


You Are No King

by MourningTree



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: But so is Hollow, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Smut, Grimm is being smug, Hollow feels lonely and frustrated, I don't like sad endings so Hollow and Ghost are alive, I should update the tags, Now has a prequel, Other, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Post-Game, Slow Sex, Teasing, blowjob, but idk what to write here honestly, fight for dominance, handjob
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:55:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 31,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24948793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MourningTree/pseuds/MourningTree
Summary: Though the infection has been purged from the Kingdom of Hallownest the corrupted memories of the past still haunt the bugs who find it hard to trust their new king. The king who, among the cold palace walls, finds themselves just as lost as any wanderer. But there is one who persisted, one who sworn loyalty to them. Grimm would help them any way he can.
Relationships: Grimm/The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel
Comments: 40
Kudos: 115





	1. Chapter 1 - You Are No King

**Author's Note:**

> After the first page I got carried away and I think it shows.

Life was starting to flow back into the City of Tears like the drops of water trickling down the vast windows; slow, but steady. It wasn’t easy, the daunting memories of the corrupted past still haunting the cleared minds of all who survived. But as later on every bug realized, life had to move on. It couldn’t be stopped, it couldn’t be frozen and preserved. Life demanded to continue on and find its way of prosperity. But life also needed a little bit of help to get going, to once again relish in its former glory and be the inspiration for painters, poets and any wanderer who found their way into the kingdom’s heart. Everything had to be rebuilt. And not just the rain-soaked streets, abandoned buildings and crumbling stations, no, that was the easier part any architect could do. Trust, as fine and delicate as a spider web, also had to be completely rebuilt from the foundations, and that was not a challenge anyone could face and conquer. For trust to build between the bugs returning to the city and the monarch hiding in the castle they needed determination, commitment, and – the one thing that proved to be the most difficult – patience. And those were just the virtues both parties needed to possess. One side had other struggles of their own too.   
Though the winding caverns of Hallownest were always shrouded in an eternal dimness, never quite able to decide if they should side with light or darkness, night descended over the city like a massive butterfly spreading its wings. The noise from the ongoing works of construction slowly ebbed as the bugs who had kept tirelessly repairing every inch of their city dragged themselves back to their huts, glad to surrender to their exhaustion. 

  
But there still was a place in Hallownest that was shrouded in silence no matter the time of the day. A place that by no means was ever intended to be avoided by any bug. In fact, quite the opposite; its grandness was carefully planned to lure in the guests and visitors, the purpose of its great halls nothing else than to host joyful banquets and lavish dinners. But those days were long gone, banished by the curse that plagued and ravaged through the kingdom. And now that the opportunity shyly presented itself to once again let the place shine in its full glory, still no bug was willing to step through the gates. There were a handful brave ones, those desperate for the geo, which as an attempt to make the work there more inviting was a surprisingly generous amount. Still, those few souls were so scattered throughout the spiralling staircases, dust covered chambers and hallways with flaying wallpaper that not even they could gift the place a lively feeling. 

  
Some might call that silence housing itself in the Palace of the City of Tears maddening, but the Hollow Knight had barely noticed it. Compared to the time they spent chained up in the Black Egg this little silence was nothing. Now the only sound bouncing off the faded crimson walls were their light steps wandering through the corridors in search of some blissful rest. Hornet had donned on them a glowing white cloak, convincing them only such an attire would be appropriate for a king on a diplomatic mission, but by the gods, how uncomfortable it felt on them. It reminded them too much of the past and all of its empty promises. They were destined to save Hallownest and such and such. Lies, all of them. Their mind was threatening to slip and fall into agonizing memories yet again when, as if sensing the need for him, Grimm showed up seemingly out of nowhere.

  
His scarlet eyes drank in the sight of Hollow and he put on a comforting smile. “How did it go?”

  
Hollow shook his head. In truth, it went horrible. They didn’t even understand why it was them who had to go. The last thing they were meant to be was a diplomat skilful in the ways of words and agreements. 

  
“Deepnest?” Grimm pressed onto the matter, striding beside them with lazy steps. “Not even with your sister’s help?” 

  
Hollow wasn’t in the mood to talk about it right now. That realm of weavers was as stubborn as ever, but now to top it all of its residents regarded Hollow and all they were trying to put right with suspicion. They were being too cautious which, when Hollow foolishly put on a firmer tone, turned into hostility, and so the conference had to be called off earlier than planned and Hollow had to endure the bitter taste of failure on their ride back. 

  
“Give them some time,” Grimm said, though he too knew how little that advice helped. “And the Hive? They need a new queen, so then why did they refuse to accept?”

  
Hollow cast their gaze on the sliding tiles beneath, masking the shame that was biting at them from the inside. A new queen? Apparently they didn’t need one. And it was thanks to sheer fortune that the golden shine of the honey dripping down the walls of the hive didn’t get to mix with any of their blood.

  
A long and tired sigh teared up from Hollow as their shoulders slouched, the once proud knight loosing their regal posture. This kind of defeat was a different one, not like when during their training they slipped and their spell failed to meet its target. This time it wasn’t the fighting techniques that were faulty, this time Hollow was just dull. Their fingers curled into a fist. They didn’t understand what the point of any of this waltzing around in conference rooms had. 

  
Concern etched Grimm’s features as he put a hand on their shoulder. “Now don’t blame yourself. You have a job no one can succeed in.” A knowing smile creeped onto his face. “I know just what you need.” Hollow perked up, eyes expectant. “Let me take the strain off you. Whatever’s bothering you let it slip by, and prove me you still have the warrior’s spirit.” 

  
Grimm had often teased Hollow with what a shame it would be if they’d lost the title of the best fighter in the kingdom. And Hollow was never good at shrugging off Grimm’s playful doubt. With a fast move their arm lashed out at Grimm, but his reflexes were quick as always and he dodged the attack in a puff of red smoke. Grimm gave out a low chuckle, glad to finally get his beloved knight to take action. Hollow tried again, this time aiming for Grimm’s throat, but again he just managed to slip by.

  
“You have to try harder than that,” he called from the end of the hallway, the playfulness ever alive in his voice. “Come, I want to see how well you handle that nail of yours after missing out on so much training.” Hollow tilted their head, eyes narrowed into two slits of blackness, unsure if Grimm was poking fun at them. “If you’d like I can take bets on how many times you’ll slip.” Yes, he was. 

  
Grimm disappeared behind the corner, leaving a trail of crimson smoke behind. Hollow looked after him and stood there, thinking. Another previously unknown feeling had surfaced in their inner sea of void. It crept up their throat and gripped it with violence, making it a challenge to breathe. Sweat started to glisten on their palm. They identified the feeling to be anxiety. Grimm was right, since the fight with Ghost they didn’t do as much as to glance at their nail, a pure and masterfully crafted weapon with generations of knowledge melted into the blade. And besides they still hadn’t gotten used to the feeling of just one arm. It might be difficult to keep a steady balance. But still, the need to try and succeed conquered the suffocating feeling of worry, and they followed the trail of smoke and spicy scent the Troupe Master had left behind. 

  
Grimm was waiting for them with an expectant gaze, fiddling with the hilt of Hollow’s pure nail nearly the size of him. Upon entering the spacious chamber the void inside them started to bubble with the excitement that was a clear sign of a fight to come.

  
Grimm bowed low and looked up at Hollow through half-lidded eyes, in them the glitter of playfulness shining so enchantingly. “Shall we dance, then? Let us give the night a spectacle to behold.” 

  
He was expecting Hollow to bow in return and give a curt nod, but their answer was simply lifting their nail and taking up a fighting stance.

  
Grimm chuckled. Hollow needed this, so desperately that if it wasn’t for Grimm they may have started to pick fights with the furniture. 

  
With a snap of his fingers scarlet flames flared up in his palm, just as well as in his eyes. Hollow failed to decide which one was more dangerous. There was a moment of sacred silence filling the space between them, a kind they were obliged to give time to. The silence was cut through by a sharp blade and at the same time burned down by barely controlled flames of fire. Grimm, one to never miss a chance on stealing the show, was quick to take the offensive and send a handful of his fire creatures at Hollow who just barely managed to teleport right behind Grimm. They swung the great nail with less precision than intended, missing Grimm’s neck by less than an inch. But the surprise only made Grimm more lively and daring, his heart beating fast, so while ducking he kicked at Hollow’s leg. A dirty move, he didn’t deny that, but the curiosity for how much his knight had changed got the better out of him. Hollow lost their balance for just a second before having to lean on their nail for some steadying. They were right; fighting like this was much more harder.

  
Grimm was unable to wipe the smile off his face. Because it wasn’t one of mockery, no. He was happy to see Hollow’s worries and problems being fed to his flames. “Careful now,” he said, “you wouldn’t want to cut my head off.” 

  
Hollow charged again, this time putting faith into sharp projectiles, instead of having to stumble around like when they were still young and hopeful. Sharp thorns shot up from the ground below, shielding Grimm and giving him time to prepare. The thorns retracted and gave way to pillars of fire threatening to encircle Hollow. One even managed to burn the hem of their dazzling white cloak, which proved to be just another obstacle, with every time getting caught in their arm and nail. Exploding spheres, the lethal amalgamation of soul and magic, momentarily disoriented Grimm, giving the pair a moment to break their dance. Both were heaving, sweat glistening on their black carapaces. 

  
“I’m happy to see you haven’t lost any of your spirit,” Grimm noted. 

  
Hollow shrugged, wishing to sign something, but their hand was busy holding their nail. Feeling awkward they glanced around, shifting from one leg to the other. 

  
“Allow me to help.” Grimm walked up to them and gently peeled their fingers off the weapon.

  
Hollow had to take a moment to steady their shaking fingers and troubling mind. “It’s not easy,” they wrote on Grimm’s hand. 

  
“Of course it’s not.” He put a warm hand on their shoulder, gently squeezing it. “It’s been a long time since you’ve seen that nail, let alone lift it. And don’t get me started on that unnecessarily long cloak of yours, because-” 

  
“That’s not what I meant,” the words came more firmly pressed. Their gaze seemed to harden. “I meant this. All this. It’s easy for you, being a troupe master, putting on shows each night, while I can’t go out in my own city.”

  
“What do you-?” but Grimm’s question was cut off by a well-practiced swing of a nail he just got lucky to have the room to dodge. 

  
Then came minutes of heated battle, red embers flying around and mixing with white-hot sparks of spells, when Hollow started to waltz towards the entrance. 

  
“What’s wrong?” a frustrated yell echoed from Grimm who grew more confused as the moments dragged by. “Please, tell me!” 

  
But Hollow was already out the door, storming down the hallways with a dangerous speed. Grimm followed, chasing away any ill-wishing images surfacing in his racing mind. Hollow seemed so content since their coronation, and now as to what possibly could have happened to so suddenly change them was a secret, left for Grimm to unravel. 

  
The cold rain of the city came as a shock to Grimm’s overheated body and sent shivers down his carapace. His eyes hunted for the tall and elegant form of Hollow through the curtain of rain, and he spotted them standing in front of the memorial dedicated solely to them, the Hollow Knight. He watched them. Their silhouette in dark was so much like the statue’s he could have confused the two. Hollow caught his gaze. They were waiting for something.

  
“Hollow, please, what are you doing?” Grimm said, concern etched deep into his features, once he stood close beside them, hoping to catch some of their escaping warmth. 

  
“Don’t call me Hollow,” they signed with quivering fingers, “because I’m not hollow. I failed to be hollow.”

  
Grimm felt his heart being teared open and bleed. The sight of his knight standing in the dim light, silently enduring the rain beating against their black body and soaking into their white cloak, one more heavy weight on their shoulders along with their memories. Grimm wanted to say so many things, how much more Hollow was worth than they believed, how strong they were and how much he loved everything about them, but all words had failed him, and he was forced to just watch.

  
Watch as soul and magic sizzled and shimmered in their palm until it was blindingly light, and he watched as Hollow unleashed a rain of sharp daggers at the statue which might as well had been their reflection. The Hollow Knight’s statue, along with the three Dreamers, cracked, crumbled and fell onto the cold pavement of the city, a loud crash slicing through the serenity of the night. Grimm studied the part of the statue that once had been a face, then rested his gaze on the strong yet soft-hearted creature beside him. Drops of water were trickling down their pale cheeks as if they were crying, but Grimm knew that even if they could they’d never shed a tear for a memorial of lies and failure. Silence yet again was the third companion between them, but this time it was welcomed. Grimm didn’t even want to say anything, there was no point in it. Hollow would be the first to speak not him, because this was about them.   
Hollow kicked at the ruins of the fine stonework, making sure it was unrecognizable and upon being satisfied with the result walked back into their abandoned heart of the kingdom. 

  
A shiver ran through Grimm as he pulled his cloak tighter; it was cold without them. There emerged a vague suspicion in his mind that Hollow might have wanted to be left alone, but how could he leave like this? Just when they were in the greatest need of a warm hand and comforting whispers? He didn’t leave their side when they were so weak they could barely walk, he changed their bandages without ever missing a day, he watched them with round and happy eyes from the front row in the coronation, he helped them with all he could, but now it seemed even that wasn’t enough. Longingly he watched the spot where Hollow had disappeared behind the gate. He could do better. He must do better. A faint puff of red smoke was all he left behind. 

  
He found them in the training chamber, frantically swinging their nail at nothing. But Grimm had the impression that maybe it wasn’t nothing. Maybe it was all their pain and worries and hurt. Only if it was that easy to get rid of those. 

  
“Please,” sounded Grimm’s half-hearted request, “let me help you.”

  
Hollow paused and set their nail aside to free their hand and sign. “If you can change every bug’s way of thinking, you are free to try.” Their eyes narrowed in sarcasm.

  
Grimm ventured deeper into the chamber. “What do you mean?”

  
“Oh, don’t pretend to be blind, the role of unviability is already taken by me.” Whatever it was they were saying, it felt unnatural for their often so reserved demeanour. “You surely see what’s going on around this place. Or to be more precise, what’s missing from it.”

  
“Give them time,” Grimm said, closing in the last few paces between them. “Life will return.” 

  
Hollow turned their head away from Grimm’s attempt at a consoling touch. “You don’t see what I do. You don’t see that when I cross paths with a servant they instantly freeze and wait until I pass, or quickly change directions. Do you really think I don’t leave this palace because I don’t want to? No, it’s because every time someone sees me they can’t see the king. They quiver and back away in fear. They can’t see anything else but the monster who ruined Hallownest.” They paused, mustering up the strength and courage to continue. “And they’re right. I should have been thrown out and left at the bottom of the Abyss, but instead I became a monster.” Their fast gestures were filled with frustration. 

  
Before they could turn Grimm cupped their face with both hands, and the two of them were locked in a long stare. Behind Hollow’s void black eyes was hurt and, Grimm didn’t want to believe it, but paired with that hurt was anger, silent but dangerous, and ready to erupt. 

  
Grimm leant close to their face, scarlet eyes wishing to peek into their soul. Their quick breaths mingled together, and Grimm whispered in a soft velvet voice. “You’re not a monster.” He gently caressed Hollow’s cheek, noting with a speck of satisfaction that they leant into the touch. “You’re many things, beautiful and wonderful things, I know.” 

  
Snapping out of their beginning trance Hollow’s eyes widened and they reached for their nail with a defying speed, swinging it at Grimm, though only from a distance. With a shocked hiss Grimm teleported into a corner, thinking about a plan on how he could calm the troubling mind of his love. 

  
“Please,” Grimm tried in a soft voice. “I understand you anger, but-” Daggers of soul and magic aimed at his head made him duck and shut up. Whatever he’s said, it was just oil to the fire. So if words weren’t what the vessel needed he’d resort to actions and let himself drift with the current. Whatever may come, Grimm would stay by their side, no matter the cost. 

  
Hollow beckoned them back onto the battleground with a nod of their elegant head. If they wanted to fight so badly Grimm would oblige and show them more than they’d expect. 

  
The cold tiles beneath them once again became a dancefloor as lively sparks of fire tried to break the line of white defence. Grimm took advantage not just of his teleport, but Hollow’s lack of steady balance. He whirled around the place like a tornado of fire, always moving, never staying in the same spot for more than a second. Hollow tried their best to follow his sleek form, but Grimm was fast and their long white cloak was just yet another obstacle. Then Grimm’s attention lingered on Hollow’s pale face and black carapace for a moment too long and Hollow only needed as much to get ahead of him and surprise the Troupe Master with the sharp tip of their nail pressed lightly against his throat.

  
Grimm froze and his narrowed scarlet eyes glittered with that rare kind of smug which belonged solely to him. Hollow had always been hard to read, but now that they were purposefully masking their thoughts and intentions Grimm couldn’t rely on his eyes, but was urged to listen to his feelings. 

  
As if to prove how unintimidating he found the vessel he lazily traced the intricate carvings on the pure nail, up until his wandering fingers reached its hilt and met with Hollow’s. The excitement of the battle still lingered around the two, their most adored perfume. A careful smile crept onto Grimm’s face as he caressed Hollow who was so perfectly motionless like their destroyed statue outside. His smile grew wilder as he gave Hollow one last moment to believe they were the one on top pulling the strings, then with one swift move he got a firm hold on the nail, whirled around, pushing the already shocked and caught off-guard Hollow just enough to loose their balance, tumble and inevitably fall. The gleaming blade of the pure nail was thrust in the ground, piercing through their cloak. Without a second to spare Grimm kneelt down then straddled them, trying not to put all his weight onto the struggling knight. Hollow tried to get up and shake the Troupe Master off of them, but tugging at their cloak was a fruitless attempt. Then he fumbled with the pointlessly overcomplicated clasps and buttons and who knows what else at their neck, but one shaky hand was little help. They were quite literally nailed to the ground. All they could do was to push themselves into a sitting position with Grimm who was starting to become more and more overconfident. 

  
Grimm took in the sight, satisfied with all he’s achieved and drunk on Hollow’s beauty, that long pair of horns, almost regal, that elegant curve of their snout he wanted to kiss so badly, and their lean body, so perfectly void black. There was only one blemish that wasn’t meant to be there. On their forehead, between their two horns was a thin crack, a stigma left by the past. But Grimm loved even that. His gaze wandered back into their eyes, narrowed, the void raging inside them. Anger suited them, and not just because it made them snappier and more sensitive, but because they had every right to be angry.  
Grimm leant in for a gentle kiss, testing the waters. Hollow was tempted to lean away, but in the end stayed and surrendered to the eternal love and warmth radiating from Grimm’s alluring form. Taking this as an invitation Grimm’s hands started to wander along Hollow’s upper torso, feather-light touches upon their cheeks, neck and collarbone.

  
Hollow broke away from the kiss and looked at Grimm. His comforting touches managed to drown out their anger, but failed to deliver the calmness he wished for. They tilted their head in confusion and slight annoyance, and this time instead of signing they wrote on Grimm’s back. “You’re not helping.” Grimm swore he could see a sarcastic pout on them. 

  
“Then just tell me to stop, and I will.” 

  
An awkward silence sat between the two, one of silent defiance, a wordless fight over who had the greater sense of pride. Oh how much Grimm loved to catch them off-guard, in a clever trap of carefully chosen words. Hollow refused to say anything and instead just leant back, mutely encouraging Grimm to continue on. Maybe what Grimm was doing wasn’t help, maybe it was, but Hollow didn’t know. They tried to guess what they needed right now the most, but it felt like wading through a thick sea of fog covering everything that might be an answer, and so they were left clueless. Not so much like Grimm who now, with his kisses getting longer and touches become more daring, signalled clear intentions and desires. 

  
The balance between calmness and excitement was perfect between them, no rushed feeling and actions, but Grimm, being ever the entertainer, spoke in short pauses between the kisses. “I hope you know I’m not like the rest of them, not in any way.”

  
The balance tipped, dipping into excitement and the tempting urge to take risks, to break the measured facade they were forced to put on like masks during the day. But now, fortunately for them, it was night.

  
“You don’t know me,” Hollow etched rather than wrote onto his back. “You don’t know anything about me.”   
Even if it wasn’t intended Grimm took it as an offence, and it had sparked something up deep within him, something rarely witnessed and was way beyond just his usual overconfidence. 

  
His cheeks were blushed by the sheer mention of Hollow’s doubt and he hissed with forceful defiance among his notes of surprise. “ _I’m_ the one who doesn’t know you?!” A mad light shone in Grimm’s wide red eyes, and Hollow realized too late that they’d made a mistake. “ _I_ don’t know you?” 

  
Without any sign of a warning he shoved two fingers into Hollow’s slit already dripping with void, and cracked a satisfied smile upon seeing the shock that zapped through their system like a cold shower, but filled them with a dizzying hotness. Hollow’s back instinctively curled into an elegant arch as their arm and legs tried to hold onto some support, but they were left struggling under Grimm’s still body and stern face.

“I know you better than you yourself,” Grimm said proudly and with the irresistible need to prove as his fingers pulled out of Hollow. His fingers slowly dragged along their abdomen, heaving chest and collarbone and travelled even past their cheeks towards the one spot Hollow hated the most on themselves. As Grimm placed his hand, lighter than a veil, upon the thin crack on their forehead Hollow instantly froze, an instinct rooted deep within them that they could never get rid of. That crack was supposed to be nothing else, but a reminder for the past and a subtle warning not to make the same mistakes again, but that wicked crack was so much more. So much worse. It was an ill omen, the sign of corruption for whoever saw it with held back breaths as their king passed by, and it was a curse for Hollow, a curse that was impossible to get rid off. They hoped it would heal under the bandages and various ointments, but they were wrong. Then they tried at the hot springs, often keeping their head under the healing water until the lack of oxygen made their insides burn and yearn for air. Still, the crack persisted, and slowly Hollow started to give up all hope of erasing it. Every bug regarded that crack on their forehead like that, with fright and worry, except one. It was none other than Grimm, the mysterious traveller with a wealth of secrets. 

  
When the kingdom once again began to wake from its deep slumber all have expected the troupe to move on and disappear without a trace, but for everyone’s surprise, Grimm stayed. Grimm, cocky and daring, but ever so loyal. At first Hollow didn’t understand why he stayed and who his loyalty was sworn to, until, after long months of painlessly slow realization, it clicked. The reason for why he’s chosen them remained a secret, and they tried their best to try and uncover it, so far to no avail. But nonetheless, Grimm was now loyal to Hollow, and have sworn loyalty to them time and time again, seemingly every day. Hollow didn’t mind. 

  
Grimm, whose intent now was nothing else, but to prove their loyalty and help. Help in any way he could. But Hollow was beautiful and tempting with everything Grimm has ever wished for and, for Grimm’s greatest joy, they let him, beckoned him, to give in to the temptation. They rarely resisted, another thing Grimm loved about them, and they barely played games. Barely. But tonight was an exception. Tonight was an offering on the altar of discovery, breaking the boundaries and deepening the bonds. 

  
Grimm velvet voice crackled with the warmth of fire and brought both of their wandering minds back into the present. “Accept it,” Grimm whispered as he traced the crack. Hollow shuddered. “It’s a part of you. And it’s not a curse, nor something to be feared or hated. Look at it like I do. It’s a proof of your strength, a strength many don’t even dare to dream of. You’ve withstood so much, face and conquered so many challenges, fought and grew and persisted, refusing to give up and you survived.” Grimm was heaving, his eyes mildly surprised by his own words. “You survived. That fine crack is the proof that you survived what has killed so many and left the few to live in terror. You’ve gone through hell, I admit, but you’ve emerged victorious on the other side. And that, my love, can only be regarded with deep respect. So accept it and wear it like a crown, because to me it means more than any kind of a crown ever could.” 

  
To make them understand that they meant it Grimm pressed a light kiss on their forehead, then their cheeks and snout and at last travelled down their neck. Hollow tipped their head back without a moment of hesitance. Grimm toyed with the idea of biting at their neck, marking them, maybe bringing forth a few drops of void, but he knew that wasn’t what Hollow needed right now. So he just planted long and loving kisses along their neck and collarbone. Hollow gave in to the sensation, letting their problems and any concerning thoughts to slip by and fade away. They just wanted to feel Grimm and his warmth and his love. Their fine hand kept wandering along his sides and back, tugging at his cloak and sometimes grazing over his shoulder as if wanting to write something, but never came to. 

  
Grimm lifted his head, eyes catching Hollow’s. They were relaxed and content. “What would you like me to do?” he asked, willing to give the spotlight which he loved so dearly to Hollow. This time. Yes, this night he’d make an exception.

  
Hollow’s half-lidded eyes widened, needing a moment to process the question. If Grimm wanted to surprise them he succeeded. “A dangerous thing to ask.” Wrote Hollow, loving as Grimm tried to repress a shudder at the sharp claws dragging over his side, at a particularly sensitive spot. Maybe he knew Hollow well, but his knight wasn’t a fool either.

  
“Dangerous indeed,” he hissed, his fangs glinting in the candlelight. “But that’s not something you were ever afraid of. Of course,” he lowered his voice, “I could take the lead if you’d wish-” 

  
“No,” the words etched into his carapace. “That won’t be necessary.” 

  
Grimm’s eyes widened, as scarlet as his cheeks. Was it confidence hiding beneath their sea of void? He was used to taking the lead, but a promise was a promise, and besides, he was fizzing with curiosity.   
Hollow tilted their head to the side, cherishing the rare moment of catching Grimm off-guard. At last they wrote, “You. Down. Now.” They were smug and they knew it. Grimm knew it. 

  
Grimm was rendered speechless. But talking wasn’t what Hollow had asked for anyway. He sent them a smile and a nod, as if acknowledging and congratulating for their confidence in his own way. And Grimm began his descent, which he had long decided he’d take his sweet damn time with and would make it a most memorable moment for Hollow. 

  
He started slow, much like he did in a dance, peppering kisses and sometimes licking along Hollow’s chest, abdomen and at last temptingly and maddeningly close to their groin. Hollow tried to match their movements to the coolness on their face, only to fail miserably. It was clear by the way their chest heaved, back arched, fingers kept clawing at nothing and how they struggled against their cloak still pinned to the ground. They cast an annoyed glance at the white silk. They should have just tore that damn thing to shreds already, but the fine craft of the weavers held strong. Their wandering mind was yet again captured and dragged back to reality by the sudden shock of Grimm’s warm tongue pressing against their slit, slowly licking. But Grimm, never one to rush things, refused to go deep, refraining himself to just light and soft licks which alone carried little satisfaction, but sweetly tempted Hollow with promises of what more they could do. And Hollow’s sole desire at that moment was to feel what else they could do. Grimm’s hands wandered along their torso, sometimes idly tracing a few shapes on their black carapace shimmering with a thin sheen of sweat, but he still refused to move further on. 

  
“What are you waiting for?” They wrote on the back of Grimm’s head with trembling fingers and eyes barely open to see him look up at him with a wide, knowing smile and a roguish glint in his eyes.

  
“For a please maybe?” 

  
A ‘please’? Hollow scoffed to themselves. Grimm could tease them all he wanted, but this time - no matter how hard he tried not to accept it – Hollow was doing everything in order to keep the lead. “You wouldn’t want to make me angry, now would you?” The way the sharp tip of their claw grazed along his skull carried with them an air of threat. 

  
“I don’t know,” Grimm purred in a honeyed voice, fingers yet again tracing shapes on their inner thigh, dangerously close to their slit. Hollow quivered and pushed into the touch. “Anger suits you. Makes you more daring... And who knows what else?”

  
“It certainly makes me not beg.” They lifted their head just to catch his pair of crimson eyes. It was another long stare, void battling with fire in the pulsing hot air between them, sparks of excitement illuminating their blushed faces. Hollow gave a slight push to Grimm’s head and at last he obeyed, but the low hiss that he gave made Hollow feel like he wouldn’t forget the scar on his pride. 

  
Hollow shut their eyes tight and tipped their head back, grateful for the coolness of the tiles soothing their inner hotness, and let Grimm do whatever he wished to as long as it helped them get closer to that promise of pure bliss, which only he could deliver. 

  
Grimm tried to deny how much he loved to please his knight, but it was crystal clear for both of them by the way his eyes lit up with a glitter of love whenever they were around, by how he seemed to walk slightly closer to them than other bugs, by how he kept making weirder and weirder excuses for sticking around the palace. And of course by the way he thrust his long tongue deep into Hollow’s slit.

  
Grimm could never fully get used to the taste of void, always finding it to be so contrary in Hollow. They were supposed to be empty and thoughtless, but he had the chance to see that Hollow was probably one of the most sensitive and kindest creatures in all of Hallownest. Their only wish was to put things right in the best way they could, and beside that they wanted nothing else. They didn’t even act like a king.   
Hollow’s fingers curled around one of his horns, pushing his face deeper. Grimm didn’t mind; in fact he loved every moment of it. Their sea of void practically raged in them, in their tense muscles and arching back, and oh what Grimm wouldn’t have given to hear just one sweet moan from them. But he had to be satisfied with his imagination and the sight, which truth be told, was the most beautiful he’d seen in all the kingdoms he’d visited. His licks were becoming longer and reached deep in just the right spots with exquisite mastery. Of course, Grimm being Grimm and knowing every inch of Hollow’s body so perfectly, he missed that one spot, the one which always brought the most pleasure, on intention, loving as they struggled to position their hips for his tongue to hit it. They were quivering, their whole body. They were on edge, that bliss just out of reach, sometimes even touching them for a second, but it always slipped away not letting them to grasp and enjoy it. 

  
They tried to write a ‘please’ onto Grimm’s neck, but a ‘p’ and an ‘l’ was all they could manage. Grimm smiled and glanced up at them, his mouth smeared with the void by this time covering most of their thighs, and felt content with the trembling mess he’s managed to make of his knight on the dancefloor.   
He added a few fingers too, and licked and sucked until he was out of breath, but only paused for a second before continuing. The dripping void felt sweet and sour at the same time on their tongue, addicting. Hollow’s scent was dizzying, their beautiful black carapace like the night sky, their halo of horns divine, and their body hot against each other. Grimm kept on licking, now hitting their sweet spot too. Hollow’s muscles instinctively tensed, eyes shutting tight as they kept gasping for air. That promise of bliss, so maddeningly close. Grimm purred into the lick and Hollow threw back their head as pure euphoria seemingly exploded in them like fireworks, sending stars across their hazed vision. They went limp as a ragdoll, their muscles free of strain at last. Grimm helped them ride out their afterglow with practiced fingers. He made a show of licking the void off his fingers, firmly holding Hollow’s gaze, telling them without words that they are his. Then he planted gently kisses all along their body, not leaving one spot untouched, until he reached their snout. 

  
These were the rare times when Grimm was glad about them being bigger than him, and so he lazily lay on top of them, forever drunk on their beauty. Hollow caringly wiped some leftover void from the corner of his mouth, then leant in for a kiss. 

  
“So,” Grimm asked in a sultry tone, “did I help, hm?” He rested his chin on their chest, listening to the steady and oddly soothing rumble of their inner void.

  
Hollow averted their gaze, reluctant to tell Grimm how much he’s helped. Helped since the very beginning.  
Grimm poked them. “Come on, admit it. I helped.”

  
Hollow’s eyes fixed on his alluring black and red form laying on top of him. Grimm shifted on them a bit and Hollow nearly flinched as they felt Grimm’s erection brushing against them. They signed, “Yes, I admit... But I’m not yet finished with you.”

  
Grimm’s eyes widened as he barely processed the words and Hollow already whirled them around, not caring about the ripping sound of their cloak. But the material still held firm enough and they found themselves a bit lost and entangled in the soft whiteness.

  
“Let me help,” Grimm offered as his practiced hands unbuttoned that heavy cloak on the knight towering above him, accepting the help with a patient gaze. Grimm didn’t remember how his cloak ended up on the ground, but with Hollow, already slick with void, grinding against them he couldn’t have cared less. 

  
Hollow leant in close and they adored each other’s scent of sweat and excitement, small ragged gasps of breaths mingling, feeling the other’s racing heart. Hollow took their time, setting a languid pace with their grinding. Grimm felt as if the fire with which they lit the lantern and amused the crowd was now burning him from the inside, his every cell set ablaze, his whole body maddeningly hot. He just wanted to truly feel Hollow, for their souls to truly meet and join, a parade of shadow and fire. He wanted for the burning hotness to cool, and his sole desire was to slide inside Hollow and get his release. But his knight was reluctant to abide by his wish, as if waiting for something. Or just torturing him, because to Grimm it felt more like that. When Grimm was horny their patience became a thin thread that was easy to snip, and Hollow tore that patience to shreds as the minutes dragged on, the only sound filling the room being their panting and Grimm’s light moans. Then the fire in Grimm burned away his last bit of patience.

  
He got a hold on Hollow’s shoulders and whirled them around, now sitting on Hollow like a throne, adoring their look of surprise. His cock grinded against their slit and was soon smeared with void. 

  
“We’re not playing this game,” Hollow signed, face picking up a hint of annoyance.

  
“I’m not playing games,” Grimm panted in their neck, biting it, “I’m fucking you.” 

  
So if Grimm couldn’t hold himself back then why should Hollow had done so? They put a light hand on Grimm’s neck and taking advantage of their size flipped over the two. Grimm struggled under their weight, trying to grind against anything, but Hollow held his hips down firmly. Grimm looked at them, deep within those black eyes, surprised. Was Hollow daring, brave or just still angry? It was impossible to tell. Their sharp claws left his neck and dragged along his collarbone and chest, slow but confident, then travelled down his sides and abdomen and at last came to a stop just an inch away from his twitching cock. Grimm felt a shiver slither through his body. Hollow lifted their hand to sign something, the act being followed by Grimm’s disappointed whimper. Their sole and only focus was Grimm’s face. They didn’t want to miss seeing his reaction. They signed even slower than usual and let a long stretch of silence fall upon them between the letters. “Beg.” That was all they signed. That was all they had to. Upon finishing their fingers curled around the base of his cock, but refused to move. 

  
Grimm’s mind wasn’t in the state to produce coherent thoughts, let alone spoken words. He and Hollow have switched places, and he wasn’t sure if it was pleasant to get a taste of his own medicine. But again, he didn’t care. But, much even to his surprise, he did care about that last whit of dignity he so stubbornly clung on to.

  
“No,” he hissed through gritted teeth, fangs glinting as an empty threat. 

  
Hollow tilted their head and Grimm swore he saw them smile. A pitying smile. “Then suffer.” 

  
They stroked his cock from base to tip, a feather-light touch that he normally wouldn’t have noticed, but his whole being was starting to become sensitive to any kind of a touch. Grimm could only hope he wouldn’t go mad. Another stroke, this time firmer, flicked over his tip which was already leaking pre-cum. A series of desperate whimpers rolled off his tongue as he pushed into the touch, noting with dismay how little that got him closer to the orgasm that he craved more than anything. The fire in him grew painfully hot. The strokes got longer and harder, and Grimm got closer to the edge, his moans shamelessly loud and yearning for more. But Hollow kept on the agonizing pace, enjoying the control they held over Grimm much more than they’ve expected. They’ve changed roles, this time Hollow taking the lead and holding the reins with a steady grasp, not letting Grimm to yank them out of it. 

  
Then, without any warning, Hollow’s fingers stopped moving along Grimm’s cock. They held his gaze steady and dominant and once again wanted to tell him to beg, but before they could lift their hand Grimm erupted in a flurry of barely coherent pleas. 

  
“Please, my love,” he panted, body and voice quivering alike. “Just... please I’m begging you, please, love!” Grimm was a beautiful mess beneath Hollow, his expression of nothing else but a deep, loving level of want. Hollow couldn’t resist those pair of crimson eyes shining with the love solely reserved for them, and besides, they too were already dripping, void trickling down their thighs, painting it an even deeper glinting black. 

  
Instead of continuing to stroke Grimm they leant close to his shoulder for support and slammed down on his cock, the void in them convulsing around Grimm, who could only gasp at the sudden hotness enveloping his full length. He welcomed the feeling with a relieved sigh, chest rising and falling in a quick pace. His body felt light and Hollow was his perfect anchor, always by his side and never letting him go. Hollow’s hips lifted only to slam down again, taking in all they could, muscles tensing and head tipping back as they filled up and they shuddered when his tip reached that sweet spot deep within them. They listened to the beautiful melody of Grimm’s moans and pants and whispered ‘I love you’-s, and both of them were close, but Hollow wanted to stretch out the moments, that anticipation, that pure, unadulterated trust and love between them and Grimm, to relish more in that maddening state of the mind when all your thoughts revolve around one thing: to be sent over the edge and let pure euphoria make a mess of you. They switched into a fast rhythm, Grimm eagerly following them and the two moved in perfect sync, understanding the other’s feelings and desires without words. A last upwards thrust of Grimm’s cock and Hollow felt his cum filling them, warm whiteness mixing with void; their back arched, body tensing up a bit, head in the crook of Grimm’s neck, their thighs trembled and they came with a low grumble shaking their whole body and sending jolts of pleasure down Grimm’s cock. Hollow let waves of bliss wash over them, and soon both were drowning in the feel of ecstasy. But Hollow still wanting to make the most of the moment continued on with a languid pace, helping Grimm ride out his afterglow while he kept planting hard kisses on their neck. After long minutes of sacred silence spent like that Grimm reluctantly pulled out. Hollow managed to tame that fire in him, something only they had the power and patience to do. 

  
They refused to get off Grimm’s warm body, so they lay on top of them, head on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart. A bit comical, given that Hollow was the bigger one, but at the moment they wished for nothing else than to be loved and caressed, something their childhood had denied from them. And Grimm felt as if the only purpose of his existence was to deliver that wish. 

  
Hollow looked up at Grimm, and blinked slowly, their tired yet intense gaze filled to the brim with love and, at last, the soothing breeze of peace. They tilted their head as Grimm petted them, mind being filled by a labyrinth of imagination, its walls thoughts and memories and wishes and so much more.

  
“Why are you still here? In Hallownest?” they wrote on his chest with curious, round eyes.

  
Grimm cracked a smile, the question never being if Hollow would ask such a thing, but when. “Your kingdom isn’t crumbling anymore, it’s yet again on the path of greatness.” He paused and looked at the ceiling above fading into the darkness of the night. “After the infection, after... the fight, I thought you’d die, and truth be told, I didn’t care much. The troupe was packing and mounting the grimmsteeds already, but, just out of curiosity, I halted them for one more day. I wanted to see what would happen to the spawn of a monarch as great and cruel as your...,” he bit down on his tongue, swallowing the word ‘father’. “As he. I don’t really know how I ended up here in the city and the palace. But much to my and your sister’s surprise you let me close, to take care of you. And so I did, I had to. I couldn’t leave you alone.”

  
Hollow let out a long sigh, eyes delving deep in their own mind. “But you’ll leave. You have to, it’s your destiny.”

  
Grimm’s fingers caressed their pale cheeks. “And what was your destiny supposed to be? Originally, not this. So don’t you worry what I should or shouldn’t do, because it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that I’ll always be by your side. Helping you, caring for you, loving you... making love to you.” He smiled mischievously, but Hollow’s mind was occupied by something else and Grimm felt the oncoming cloud of worry. 

  
Hollow didn’t meet their gaze. “I can’t do it. I’m not the king Hallownest deserves. Even today, look how I failed.” 

  
Grimm kissed the crack on their forehead, their cheeks, their snout. “You’ll need to learn a lot of things, but I believe in you. I’ll help you. And you will succeed.”

  
Hollow returned the kiss, their shoulders slouching in relaxation. The cloud of worry seemingly evaporated. They let Grimm’s warmth seep in them, calm them. Minutes have passed with the only sound being Hollow’s breathing and the thrum of Grimm’s heart.

  
Hollow took a long breath of air and they pulled themselves up, heading to the exit with slow steps. Their muscles were sore, but by all means it was worth it. Grimm followed quickly, his expression one of mild surprise, confusion and concern. He hoped Hollow wouldn’t go tearing down statues again. He put a hand on their shoulders, making them to pause and look at him.

  
“Your cloak,” Grimm said weakly. 

  
Hollow shook their head. “No. I’m never wearing that again. Too...” they let their head down, failing to find the strength to tell it. 

  
“...painful. Too many memories.” Grimm cast down his eyes in sorrow and an odd sense of shame. “You won’t make the same mistakes... you’ll be better than him.”

  
Hollow looked at him, but Grimm couldn’t decipher their emotions. They were hesitant to sign but at last they did. “All I can do is try.” They glanced away in mild embarrassment.

  
“And that is more than enough, my love.” His consoling presence shifted closer to his knight. He once again glanced at the torn cloak and pure nail laying on the tiles, memories of the past haunting him as well as all of Hallownest. “You are no king. You were never meant to sit on a throne, and you don’t want to be a king. Is that right?” Though confused, they nodded. “You’ll be something even greater. The bugs out there, they have hope in you. Don’t let them down. Don’t be a king, just be their guide and guardian. That is something you’ll do wonderfully.”

  
Grimm didn’t dare to smile, he just waited for Hollow to yet again unleash their fury and go days without talking to anyone, but his expectations were wrong, so wrong. Hollow kissed him, a long and loving kiss, one full of warmth and kindness. Grimm smiled into it. 

  
When the kiss ended Grimm could see something deep within their black eyes, a miracle he’d never witnessed before. It was the glint of hope, tiny and careful, but growing by the moment until it lit their eyes up like a thousand little lumaflies. Grimm’s smile mirrored their hope.

  
Hollow took his hand and intertwined their fingers. They exited the chamber, together, hand in hand, love and hope beaming off of them and suddenly the palace didn’t seem so cold anymore. 


	2. Chapter 2 - Under The Lumafly Lanterns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Though Hollow has taken their first steps the road is long to greatness.

Grimm turned onto his other side, hoping that if he kept his eyes shut he might fall back into the sweet warmth of dreams. But Hollow stirred beside him too, a low purr, a unique kind of a yawn leaving them. Though the big pillows and blankets, but even more so Grimm’s presence, was comfortable and beckoning them to stay Hollow had to refuse. They exhaled, gathered some strength and sat up, remnants of sleep still in their black eyes.

  
“Stay,” Grimm murmured in a sleepy voice and reaching out into the general direction of Hollow with still closed eyes. “Just a couple minutes.”

  
Hollow weakly shook their head and held Grimm’s hand firmly before eventually standing, preparing to face whatever challenge the day might present them with. Grimm pressed his face deep into the pillow Hollow slept on, drinking in their scent of flowers and hot springs, then opened one eye just enough to see what they were doing. Hollow didn’t notice how Grimm’s gaze lingered on them, watching their black carapace glint in the dim morning, their thin body leaning over the cupboard, their pale face being sprinkled with fresh water from a bowl. While drying their face with a towel they caught Grimm’s hungry gaze.

  
“I spent the whole night with you,” they signed with playful scorn. 

  
“That wasn’t enough.” Grimm propped his chin on his hands, a playful smile. 

  
There was a glint of mischief in their eyes. “And what are you going to do about it?”

  
Grimm sat, practically engulfed in their cloak of thick blankets. “Stick around some more. Help you with whatever I can. And make sure that you keep onto your promise.”

  
Hollow shrugged, checking their face in the mirror. Their fingers ran over the thin crack on their forehead. “Shouldn’t you... take care of the troupe?”

  
Grimm’s soft expression hardened, their cheeks a shade darker. “No. They can go a day without me.”

  
Hollow disappeared in a little storage room to fetch their cloak and thus Grimm had to wait long moments for the answer to come. It was compromises like this they had to make in this peculiar relationship of theirs. It was annoying that they couldn’t have conversations from two opposite sides of the palace, or in complete darkness, or when Hollow’s hand was already busy with something, but maybe it wasn’t so bad that the two of them were quite literally forced to pay attention to each other. Though Grimm could speak, and often did so, in the darkness without having to show his face, he could never listen to Hollow without stopping whatever he was doing and dedicate his attention to them. And Hollow had no way of hiding their expressions, and thus a unique kind of trust and honesty bloomed between the two. 

  
Hollow emerged with their cloak in hand and continued the conversation with ease. They peered at Grimm through narrowed eyes. “I don’t know what it is you truly do,” they signed slow and cautiously, “but I feel like it will be me who’ll have to pull you out of the sticky mess-”

  
“There’s no mess, my dear,” Grimm said with confidence. “Trust me.”

  
Hollow held the crimson gaze of their lover for another moment before returning to their morning routine. 

  
Grimm sighed, the sleep well out of their eyes, and tried not to think about it. Reluctantly so, but he stood and lazily strode behind Hollow standing in front of the mirror, putting on their grey cloak. Grimm rested his chin on their shoulder, his breath faint and warm on their neck.

  
“You should wear more colour. It’d be for a nice change.”

  
They shook their head while fumbling with the cloak’s clasps.

  
“Aw, come on,” Grimm teased with a relaxed smile and poked at their side. “A darker colour, hm? What about some calming green? ”

  
“No,” Hollow signed upon having finished with their routine, yet they stayed there with Grimm’s warmth so close.

  
Then Grimm’s eyes lit up bright with an idea. “Oh,” he said while waltzing towards his own cloak, “what about some red? The best colour if you ask me,” they put on a suggestive smile, “romantic and fiery. And,” he put the cloak on Hollow’s shoulders as well as his, pulling the two of them close together. “We could have matching outfits.”

  
Hollow’s white cheeks were painted a lovely pink as they averted their gaze. The void in them gave a friendly rumble, their own way of laughing. “We are not having matching outfits.” They slipped out of the red and black fabric, a bit sad to leave behind the scent of spices and smoke. 

  
Grimm suppressed a knowing smile. “Well, consider it.” With a shrug he draped the cloak over his shoulders and was ready for the rainy day. 

  
As Grimm walked towards the door he was quick enough to steal a loving kiss from Hollow. “I forgot to tell you a good morning.”

  
Hollow put their hand on Grimm’s cheeks, then signed. “Good morning to you too.”   
_____ 

  
A shiver ran through Grimm. He could never quite get used to the constant rain and coldness of the city. He looked at Hollow who seemed content in the morning mist with the streets still empty and quiet. It’s been a week since they ventured into the city, and the first time that it was with the sole intention to see the streets and meet its residents. Hollow was terrified, they didn’t want to endure the venom of shame burning at their carapace, or the pain it caused them to see the bugs whose families they were supposed to save back away in fear and disgust. Why couldn’t they just stay within the protection of the palace walls and handle all the matters of the kingdom from there? Why couldn’t they just close the gates, with only them and Grimm inside, why couldn’t they just seal themselves away? Seal the palace into a dream and hide the throne in the deepest pit of the palace and protect it with thorns and spells and blades and whatever it took, and then they could live in peace until the end of times, and forget about it all, forget about the problems of Hallownest and... their terror grew, but they couldn’t stop their reeling thoughts anymore. And within that palace of purity they saw themselves, so tiny and young and behind them, on the throne, was the very being they never wanted to be associated with. It was their father, the Pale King, sealed away and safe. Or so he believed. They all believed.   
They winced when Grimm gently tapped their hand. The sole reason for them to go out into the city was Grimm, he was the one who convinced them. Hollow was doing all this just for Grimm. 

  
Grimm’s touch persisted and he tried to intertwine their fingers, but Hollow pulled away. He tried again more firmly, but Hollow refused, even though they would have been glad for the comfort. Grimm frowned, but before he could voice a question a bug came rushing to them through the curtain of rain.

  
“I am sorry, my King,” the grey bug panted and refused to meet Hollow’s gaze, “but there has been an incident which I believe requires your Majesty’s attention.”

  
Though Grimm and Hollow had no idea what could stir the city up so much in the morning they nodded and followed the bug. 

  
From afar they spotted a small crowd gathered in the middle of the city square, many of the bugs kneeling down and inspecting something on the cobblestones with great interest. When Hollow got closer and their towering form cast a long shadow over the citizens who were afraid, but not so much as to run, who were brave, but not enough to voice their thoughts. They were in the middle of curiously examining the masterpiece Hollow has made the previous night. The artwork of broken stone, statues destroyed to unrecognition, a fountain that was no longer working. A memorial that Hollow rather wished to fade into oblivion. 

  
“Your Majesty,” a menderbug feeling a rush of bravery said to Hollow in an uptight manner, “we don’t know who has committed this atrocity, but we’ll repair your Majesty’s memorial in no time.”

  
Hollow firmly shook their head and Grimm took up the role of a translator. “Thank you, but that won’t be necessary.”

  
“What shall we build instead?” The bug was noticeably getting more confused. 

  
“Just a fountain. Keep it simple if you will.”Grimm’s face perfectly mirrored the shared surprise of all who have heard him. 

Hollow looked down at Grimm and signed casually, “You shouldn’t be surprised.”

  
Grimm stared at the lump of rocks and youngster bugs scavenging for parts with carvings and patterns on them. “I know,” he mumbled. Still he seized the opportunity and stepped over to the youngsters to gift them with a handful of free tickets for tonight’s show. Their eyes sparkled with gratefulness and whispered ‘thank you’-s left their mouths. 

  
Hollow watched the off scene then gave a brief bow to the perplexed menderbug and left the scene with steps just slightly faster than usual. They couldn’t see what Grimm could; how the wondering and curious eyes of the citizens followed their lean figure.   
Grimm appeared beside Hollow in a puff of red smoke and with a questioning look. The city was still weeping quietly, raindrops trickling down the cracked glass and wet cobblestones mirroring the flickering light of the lumafly lanterns. The rain brought with it a refreshing atmosphere that lingered around the two, promising them a day that was better than the last. 

  
“Are you ashamed of me?” Grimm asked with a slowly rising pitch in his voice. 

  
Hollow’s hand made a series of quick and undecipherable gestures before giving clear signals. “What? Why? What do you mean?” Their shoulders tensed up, face clueless and confused. 

  
“Is the Troupe Master too embarrassing for your higher presence to show up with?”

  
The fire whose warmth had so often soothed Hollow was now biting at their shell, and the realisation of what Grimm’s fire would be capable of frightened them. “Grimm, you know I love you.”

  
“Not what I asked,” Grimm shook his pair of black horns, face morphing into an expression of disappointment rather than anger. “It’s this.” He got hold of Hollow’s hand and held it close to their eyes.

  
They tilted their regal head in confusion, eyes, wide and unblinking, intently watching Grimm and wishing to see inside his soul which he already spilled out to them so often. Having not want to free their hand from the grasp of his long fingers Hollow placed a gentle kiss on his knuckles. 

  
Grimm’s gaze fell on the pavement and he let out a weak sigh. “Why must you hide me?” he whispered. 

  
“I’m not hiding you, but...” Their hand weakly fell to their side. Hollow loved Grimm, but sometimes, especially in the presence of others the Troupe Master’s vivid self of the entertainer surfaced and lured in everyone’s attention, so Hollow found it easier to not give him a chance, to just have him calm and quiet. The possibility of this hurting Grimm seemed so distant to them, but now it was staring them in the face, impossible to just shrug off as Grimm having a day of gloom.

“I’m sorry, I had no intention to.” 

  
To prove their point they cupped his cheek with soft fingers, gently lifting his head to meet their gaze. Grimm planted a light kiss on their palm. “I know,” he mumbled in a sweet voice laced with love, pressing deeper into the touch. His half-lidded eyes widened as if waking up and the crimson peered inside the inky eyes of Hollow. “I’ll try not to embarrass you.” 

  
The raindrops trickling down Hollow’s black shell made them shiver, the blue cold of the city now more apparent than ever left them wanting to seek an escape from the tears of the Blue Lake. Their hand left Grimm’s cheeks and trailed down his arm to intertwine their fingers with his. And the two idly waltzed back to the palace, Grimm being to mesmerized and touched how Hollow, while being quite aware that all eyes were on them, walked across the square with the remnants of the destroyed memorial while radiating proudness as they held Grimm’s hand. And the memory of why they left the palace in the first place sank deep and Hollow could only hope it wouldn’t resurface.   
_____ 

  
“You’ve promised me to help, remember?”

Hollow signed and looked down at Grimm with slight, but quite real annoyance.   
Grimm stretched a few muscles which numbed over the hours of pure comfort and supressed a yawn. He was relishing every moment spent in Hollow’s lap, head forever resting on their chest, listening to the constant thrum of their inner void.

“I am helping.” There was a soothing whiff of drowsiness and calmness in his velvet voice. Grimm snatched the scroll that Hollow was studying so intensely, gaze not lingering on the words for more than a few seconds. “I believe it could be fixed by a simple but thorough cleaning of the waterways.” He leant over to the stack of scrolls resting atop the nearby table, not seeing the hunger with which Hollow drunk in the sight of the red glint of his carapace as his cloak slid open, how vulnerable and inviting his lean body sprawled out on their lap looked like. Still, as the ruler of Hallownest they had important duties to attend to. 

  
Grimm read the scroll. “The stagways won’t stand the sudden rush of traffic. I know it’s expensive, but you’ll have to build more trams.” The scroll landed on the black tiles beneath and Grimm reached for another one, secretly smiling to himself as this time his cloak was left wide open on intention. He read the page. “Hire more workers. Not enough? Higher wages.” He carelessly threw that scroll too on the floor. “There, fixed your city.” He crossed his arms and lifted his chin, being radiating a fine but everlasting pride.

Hollow shook their head, but the scorn on their features was so fake Grimm had to smile. “It doesn’t work like that.”

  
“I just proved to you it does. And if something goes wrong your sister will burst in head over heels, yelling her orders and wailing how you’ve just ruined it all.”

  
“Do you want her to burst in on us with you like this?” 

  
Grimm shrugged, a grin stretching over his features. “Her shock would be nothing compared to yours,” he chuckled, lovely red sparks in his eyes.

  
“Let’s not go as far as to see that,” signed Hollow and reached to lift yet another scroll from the pile of dozens more to read and revise and reply to. A long and tiring process already, but with the Troupe Master loud and starved for attention it was near impossible. But Hollow had no choice, but to finish their work. That, rather than the fury of their sister. 

  
Grimm watched Hollow with half-lidded eyes, a smile constantly tugging at his lips. Hollow’s form was regal and attention demanding already, but as they sit so perfectly on that white throne of theirs they couldn’t even deny they were royalty. Grimm’s eyes slowly fell shut, head tilted to rest against their warm chest. Hollow wished for their lover to drift off into a sleep, but Grimm didn’t have the slightest intention to abide by that wish. Yes, he did try to stay put, but his mind was soon filled with ideas of what else the two of them could possibly do on such a comfortable throne. He stirred, those crimson eyes of his practically glowing in the dimness of the room, and tugged at Hollow’s colourless cloak.

  
Hollow spared just a pitying glance for the impatient bug beneath, then carelessly signed, “For the gods’ sake, grow up, Grimm.”

  
Grimm let out a sarcastic chuckle, “You want a troupe master to ‘grow up’? I’m practically in charge of a circus and you expect me to behave seriously? Then you’ve picked the wrong bug, my love.”

  
Hollow’s tense and sudden turn of the head accompanied by a piercing gaze made Grimm freeze. “I have not picked the wrong bug.” They signed with clear gestures.

  
Grimm leant in for a loving kiss which Hollow obediently returned. “I know,” Grimm mumbled into the kiss. 

  
The returned kiss was a silent sign for Grimm to continue on. His fingers slowly slid under Hollow’s cloak, fingers idly tracing shapes on their shell. His face rested in the crook of their neck and Grimm adored the way Hollow always tensed up at the first kisses. But much to Grimm’s dismay, Hollow gently peeled his fingers off and a firm hand guided his gaze to look at them.

  
“Grimm, I can’t. Be patient.”

  
“We’ll be quick.” Grimm leant close to their pale face with a smug grin. “Want to make a bet on how fast I can make you come?”

  
“No. And besides, why are you doing this?”

  
Grimm’s gaze was seemingly glued to Hollow. “You think I haven’t noticed how soon our little walk ended? You were supposed to keep that promise.”

  
A look of confusion and slight tilt of the chin. “Is this about that? Well, we can make up for that any day.”

  
Grimm shook his head and crossed his arms in fake offence. “No need, next time I’ll make sure you’ll come out of this lair of yours.”Hollow didn’t notice how they leant forward in curiosity. “You’ll see,” was all Grimm said before nestling back into their lap.

Hollow draped his cloak over their lover and pressed a light kiss on his forehead before returning back to the work which now they were eager to finish as fast as they could.   
_____ 

  
Hollow’s lack of an arm never proved to be a problem when they really wanted something. And when that something was Grimm they could have found a way to carry him without any assistance. Hollow glanced down, the unpolished grey-cold tiles and fraying crimson wallpaper blurring together as their long legs glided through the silent labyrinth-like palace, climbing stairway after stairway, turning corner after corner. As they watched the wide awake, but drunk on love Grimm they swore that in the dimness of the fading lanterns they could see a fire inside him alighting his eyes and gifting a strange but beautiful glow to his palms. 

  
“At last,” bounced Grimm’s voice off the vast windows, “I was beginning to think you’ve lost interest in me.” His relaxed drowsiness had vapoured away the instant Hollow stirred on their throne and scooped up Grimm, so idle and beautiful as a rose. But they both knew how he could reveal a set of sharp thorns when the air around started to pulse and grow hot with barely concealed excitement. Hollow’s palm started to sweat. 

  
Hollow shook their head then pressed their snout to Grimm’s cheek to prove him wrong. He sent them a sweet smile in return, not knowing how long he could play this game of honeyed love when he should have just made Hollow his hours ago in the throne room. A light touch rested on Hollow’s slightly blushed cheek and Grimm adored their innocence with a tilt of the head, eyes never leaving their face. Long ago he had discovered another sensitive spot other than the crack on their forehead. His fingers wandered toward their long neck and before Hollow could do anything Grimm’s sharp fingers dragged slowly down the back of their neck, just where the pure whiteness of their head met their void-black shell. Hollow stopped dead in their track, body and mind tense alike, and enjoyed as an odd but much loved sensation slithered through their body. Grimm too felt as a shiver ran through every inch of Hollow’s body and heard as the sea of void in them stirred and raged.

  
Hollow’s eyes looked down at him, wide and surprised and far more hesitant than Grimm would have liked. Grimm’s slender fingers were once again playing at their neck, threatening to once again rake down on their shell, when they gently dropped him down.

The two of them stood under the high ceiling of the hallway as if waiting for something to happen. They were waiting for the other to make the first step. The rain played an empty melody on the glass, the only sound against the faint breaths of impatience.

  
Hollow gazed at the stairway at the end of the hallway, then let out a long sigh, shoulders relaxing at last. “We still have two floors to climb, then go to the other end-” 

  
Grimm shushed them by intertwining their fingers, then leant in, lips brushing against their neck, his whisper close to send yet another shiver down their spine. “I was thinking about taking you here and now.” 

  
Hollow took a step back, gaze jumping about the place more in surprise rather than fear.

Their signing was quick and so messy Grimm could barely decipher the gestures. “But we shouldn’t-”

  
“You are the king,” his voice rose, fuelled by his flames of desire, “you can do whatever you want.” 

  
Grimm’s thin thread of patience snapped, and unwilling to wait for an answer his lips were soon firmly pressed against Hollow’s snout, hands shamelessly wandering along their abdomen and thighs. They shivered and for a moment threatened to pull away, but Grimm’s warm tongue playing at their neck beckoned them to stay and find out what exactly the lust-fuelled bug planned on doing. Hollow’s gaze swept over the abandoned hallway, hunting for any movement to be lurking around, but once again the endless tears of the city were all that paid witness to this silent vow of secrecy and love. 

  
But a vague shadow cast by the flickering light of a lantern made it seem like the yellowed portraits on the walls moved, judging eyes of the long-dead nobility resting on them, and Hollow weakly gave way for an objection. “Someone might come...” they wrote on Grimm’s back with jittery fingers.

  
“Let them,” Grimm purred, but seeing how little that helped Hollow to relax he added, “and besides, the palace is deserted.” He leant close to their ear and Hollow seemingly choked on his air of deviousness. “It’s all ours.” 

  
Hollow’s hesitant and slightly nervous gaze was ripped away from the faces of the past and instead steered to focus on all the things happening around them right now. Grimm’s wide and mildly overconfident grin with glinting fangs teasing or playfully threatening with all the different things they could surprise them with. Yes, the present was much better than their colourless memories of gleaming whiteness. They tugged at his cloak, but Grimm wasn’t so quick to melt away and surrender to Hollow’s slow love dripping sweeter than the sweetest of honey.

  
Though Grimm’s crimson eyes, alluring like a lantern in the pitch night, were entrancing, a surge of worried embarrassment blushed Hollow’s pale cheeks a rosy red, made beads of sweat to glisten on their forehead, but above all, prevented them from sacrificing their precious attention for their lover. The situation has already happened on the tiles of the training room, and though Hollow was quite aware the unshakeable feel possessed little rationality, this time it was different. It may have been the lack of doors, or as the vastness of the hallway got lost in the sleepy darkness of the palace, an unsettling feel of the vulnerability of open spaces. Grimm’s hands started to fiddle with the clasps of their grey cloak while Hollow struggled to keep their gaze fixed on one thing for more than a second. By the gods, how easy it was for someone to see them, to peek around the corner, or through a keyhole, or...

  
“Hey,” Grimm’s velvet voice proved to be an anchor in their choppy sea of void and emotions, gently tugging at their thoughts and bringing them back into the pleasurable softness of reality. “don’t overthink, not now,” he murmured, voice warm, but very much alive. His eyes lingered on Hollow’s lean figure, drinking in the black bug with their back firm against the wall, waiting patiently. “I’m sure it’ll be quick,” the attempt at supressing his smirk was only partly successful.

  
Patience; a virtue Grimm could scarcely pride himself in, especially not when Hollow has been ignoring and teasing him for a day. But, fortunately for Grimm, Hollow has never been the type to miss that virtue. It was a part of Grimm, and besides, he acted quite amusing when impatient. And if Grimm had set his mind to something who was a godly vessel to stop him? Certainly not Hollow. 

  
Hollow’s muscles tensed and senses heightened when their grey cloak fell on the ground, letting the cool night air to send shivers down their carapace. Grimm leant in for a kiss, and to say he was hungry was an understatement. His caring touches and kisses soon morphed into passionate bites and rough dragging of claws on their back and shoulders. Yet, Hollow let their lover do as he wished, standing there, occasionally leaning into the touches. Grimm’s hands were wandering along their thighs, and Hollow saw that the portraits moved no more and were obscured by the red mist of Grimm’s shameless and brutally honest love.

Grimm watched, enchanted, as their head of divine horns tipped back, eyes but a sliver of blackness, and as finally their shoulders slouched, body and mind giving in to the sensation of touches dangerously close to their slit.

  
Grimm tilted his head, red eyes round with awe, the sight of Hollow in their raw beauty with the pale lamplight gloating over never enough. A part of him wanted his movements to halt and to stretch this moment of elegant and powerful beauty as long as he could, to relish every passing second of it, to be able to closely study every inch of their body. But his side of romantic dreamer had a fine counterpart, a challenger always right beside it. The hungry voice of instant gratification, the command to not just see, but to taste and touch, not to waste one more moment of waiting. To just have them. The battle in his lust-filled mind wasn’t long, and Grimm gave in to his desires. 

  
A long finger brushed over Hollow’s slit, Grimm adoring with a hum how they suddenly tensed, then he made a show of licking the dripping void off his finger. Hollow’s eyes opened, and Grimm had the strange feeling that a careful smile sat on their face, what for, he had no clue. A set of sharp claws dig into their lean thighs while the other once again teased Hollow. In response they pressed their snout close into the crook of his neck and lifted a leg. Grimm let out a low, raspy chuckle before biting down on their neck.

  
Hollow thought they were one of patience and self-containment, but Grimm’s fire burned that away and left behind ashes of memories. A thin sheen of sweat covered them, their body growing ever hot, coherent thoughts vapouring away. 

  
Their one hand resting on Grimm’s shoulder teasingly etched words into it. “Let me surprise you.” 

  
Grimm blinked as if the spell which had bound him let a sliver of reality to slip through its cracks and reach him. “Please do,” he mumbled, his whole being fizzing with curiosity. 

  
Yes, Hollow was definitely smiling in their own unique way, but signed nothing further on. Instead, once again closed their eyes and let Grimm carry on, which he gladly did so.   
His kisses and bites ceaselessly kept arriving on Hollow’s neck and collarbone and every place he could reach, not leaving a spot untouched or untasted. And Hollow enjoyed it, their sea of void banging tirelessly against their shell, wishing to be let free.

  
Their hand left his shoulder and travelled up his neck, pausing to caress it with soft and trembling touches, then moved on, coming to a halt on his chin, gently lifting it. Their inky void peered deep into his eyes of crimson enchantment and inhaled his scent of sweat, spices, and ashes. 

  
Hollow leant back for support, pushing their hips forward to grind against Grimm’s experienced fingers. The pleasure kept building up inside them, but found little space among the raging waves of void. Grimm watched them, eyes glittering with curiosity, strokes becoming firmer, but slower. He was in the middle of a long stroke starting from the back of their slit, when he felt it wasn’t just the black fluid making their entrance slim, but something more firmer and definite, and he watched with the amusement of discovery as a void tendril slipped forth, thin at first, but a couple more soon arrived and morphed into one. 

  
Grimm looked down, a moment of surprise falling over his features then a wide and knowing grin stretched across his face when the realization of all their possibilities struck him. Still, he wasted little time on fantasies and instead enjoyed that rush of excitement which urged him to act before this beautiful mirage would be washed away by the rain outside. Hollow studied their lover’s face with a serious look, a part of their mind forever afraid of the reaction of their own people, that they failed to see the spark of love and lust quite literally making Grimm’s eyes glow with a dangerous scarlet. 

  
Grimm’s one hand brought Hollow’s snout down to meet his lips while the other gently palmed the void tendril which was in the odd state between liquid and solid. The touch sent shivers down their sweaty carapace as they pushed firm into the kiss, primal desires taking over the control in their sophisticated mind of a monarch. The softness of his touch soon turned into a maddeningly slow dragging of claws on their tendril and Hollow’s hips greedily started to take on their own pace, mutely urging Grimm to follow it.   
But Grimm, with that last speck of someone wishing to take the lead, refrained himself from doing so, and instead took his time to get used to the feeling of void in his palm. He found himself surprised, yet he shouldn’t have been. Void was a curious and strange thing in and of itself, but when the Pale King had discovered its powers that black liquid showed its many different faces; one of which over years of trial and error had become Hollow, so masterfully crafted with not even the last details left to fortune. A true masterpiece, a quick learner, skilled both in the ways of the nail and soul, figure lean and proud, and a perfectly obedient vessel.

  
Yet, they failed to be the saviour Hallownest was promised to get. And Grimm couldn’t help but wonder whether they were always destined to fail only to rise again, and a question started to form on his tongue when he felt Hollow’s fingers etching their own question into his shoulder.

  
“Do you love me?” 

  
For a moment Grimm just blankly stared into their eyes then blinked, not quite sure if he felt the words right. Then he struggled to decide whether the question was serious or just one of Hollow’s many sweet talks they did when lost in the pleasure. 

  
“Of course I love you,” he reassured in a gentle voice, “but why do you ask?” 

  
The stroking motion of Grimm’s hand paused and he started idly tracing the crevices of their carapace, allowing Hollow to gather their thoughts. 

  
“I know you do,” they wrote while the void of their eyes focused on Grimm. “But do _they_?” 

  
Grimm frowned, “I don’t—” 

  
“Because they do love you. They adore you.”

  
Grimm fell silent, gaze dropping to the floor as if the answer was to be found there. Thoughts have surfaced and drowned in his mind’s sea of love and confusion, when at last he spoke, his words not louder than the tapping rain. “What is the real question here?” 

  
Hollow’s fingers hesitantly hovered above his shoulder, gaze frantically jumping about the place, cheeks blushed a shade darker. “How could I make them... love me?” 

  
A loving half smile. “Oh, my love,” Grimm gently cupped their cheeks and steered their gaze back at him. “How did you make me fall in love with you?”

  
The embarrassment faded from their features, the ridicule they expected nowhere to be seen. “I have no idea.”

  
Grimm pressed a kiss on their snout. “Do you really want them to like you?” A nod. “Just be kind and honest, is all the advice I can give you. These things come with time and practice. And... leaving the palace once in a while would be a good start.”

  
Hollow’s hand pulled Grimm close and rested firm on his back, no more words to be written. But that didn’t mean they didn’t say anything in their own way, with the warmth of their tight hug, by how they seemingly wanted to be lost in Grimm, limbs tangled, breaths mingling together, eyes alive, and kisses exchanged under the pale light of the lumafly lanterns. At that moment none of them needed more than that. More than each other. 

  
Hollow had promised they wouldn’t make the same mistakes as their father, they’d be better, and that they’d forge the kingdom into something that so far only existed in dreams. 

  
Grimm’s kisses sent warmth to spread in their body and his hands once again ventured downwards. His long fingers caressed their thighs with long and slow movements, and noted with mild amusement how they pressed their hip into the touch, claws digging deep into his shoulder, chest rising in a quick and unsteady rhythm. They may have teasingly declined Grimm’s many attempts at making love, but that didn’t mean they didn’t want to get a piece of him as well. 

  
Every time was a fresh experience to be remembered, new places to be discovered, previously unknown sensations to be shared. Their love was still burning lively, fed by Hollow’s longing to be held and loved and Grimm’s desire to know someone for longer than a fleeting second of a carnival. And that fire could be felt, sharp and clear, in every glance, touch, and kiss; sending ripples of hotness to flow through their veins and to forever yearn for more. 

  
Grimm’s one hand caressed Hollow’s cheeks and collarbone while the other started stroking their impatiently quivering tendril, now handling it more firmly with confidence.   
Grimm gave in to the desires bubbling deep in the pit of his stomach, something carnal and dangerous. He bit Hollow’s neck, sharp fangs piercing through the black shell and bringing forth drops of void. He watched the inky droplets painting their shell a shiny lacquer before licking it up, the odd taste of something so ancient fizzing in his mouth. He felt Hollow shudder under his fingertips, their muscles tensing only to go limp the moment Grimm’s touch reached the tip of their tendril.

  
At last, growing tired of Hollow’s impatient rocking of hips, Grimm quickened his pace and enjoyed the sight of Hollow with a tipped back head and eyes shut tight, relishing in every second which would soon lead them up to that moment of pure bliss.

  
Grimm’s mouth persisted at their neck, warm tongue pressing on the small crack, and Hollow struggled to distinguish pain from pleasure. Them clawing at Grimm’s shoulder may have been a response, but their movements were quick and jagged and they soon ended up relying on Grimm to hold them up.

  
They were close, the hot sea of void thrashing in their abdomen, wanting to be released. Their legs trembled and threatened to give up, sweat trickling down their beautiful shell, the long horns on their tipped back head were tearing at the crimson wallpaper, forever leaving the mark of their love to be a part of the winding hallways.  
Grimm kissed them long and with passion vibrating in the air around, gave their dripping tendril one last squeeze and a stroke, and Hollow gripped at the bliss, holding it close, feeling as it sent waves of ecstasy from the tip of their horn down their numb legs, and their eyes were open just enough to see a spurt of void dripping down Grimm’s hand.

  
Their eyes suddenly widened, surprised and a bit scared at just what they were capable of. They glanced at Grimm, eyes wide and deep, and they were about to hastily sign some apology when Grimm seized their hand and planted a loving kiss on their knuckle.

  
“It’s alright, my love,” he mumbled with the warmth of a crackling fire, and as to prove gave a few light touches to their tendril that already started to retract back into their slit.

  
Hollow relaxed and put a hand on Grimm’s blushed cheeks while he made a shameless show of licking the void off his fingers.

  
“See,” Grimm said with flickers of happiness hidden in his tone, “what did I tell you? Quick and easy.” Hollow narrowed their eyes. “And unseen,” he added.

  
Hollow looked around, searching for a pair of peeping eyes, but the palace stood as if nothing would have happened. The tears of the city still tapping on the windows, breaking the light of the slumbering outside. And the inside just as quiet and abandoned as it has been since the memorial was erected.

  
Their gaze returned to their lover who was already helping their cloak onto them with a kind smile.

  
Grimm met their gaze. “We can cross the hallways off our list, now we only have a 120 other rooms to go through.”

  
Hollow looked at him with an expression Grimm guessed to be an adoring smile and intertwined their fingers, mutely calling Grimm to follow them.

  
“I love you,” whispered Grimm as if afraid that a loud sound would break this sacred silence, “but so will the others too.”

  
The echoes of their steps faded and once again the hallways were reclaimed by a soothing melody of rainfall. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have done my duty, the ship is now complete. Thank you for reading!
> 
> Any comment is greatly appriciated <3


	3. Chapter 3 - It's not just you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grimm has plans. Hollow has problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kept my promise, here's the third chapter. Enjoy!

As much as Grimm would have gladly denied, he found an odd sense of enjoyment in the secrecy which he felt lingering around himself, how it weighed down on his shoulders, but at the same time what a sweet taste it left on his tongue. Oh, Hollow was so naively clueless. Grimm smiled upon imagining their expression mirroring, most hopefully, sheer surprise. But there was only one way of finding out how good this plan of his would turn out to be. 

  
For a moment he paused his ideas of possibilities to look out the window and inspect the ever-drowning city that for the first time in long would be given a loud voice of chatters and music, a fine dress of vivid lanterns and a friendly perfume of warmth and sweets. 

  
The city needed this; Grimm knew. No, not just the city, but all of Hallownest. To be able to finally let go of their problems and enjoy what a life freed from the radiant rule of the infection truly could provide. He wished for the dim caverns to be lit up by joyous sparks of crimson, for the night not to be one of fatigue and melancholy, but a realm of excited enchantment, for the rain not to wash away the citizens’ motivation, but to compliment the exploding fireworks. Grimm had seen faraway lands, many of which Hollow refused to believe in even after hours of convincing, and he never once missed a chance to dive head first into the heart of the various parades and carnivals. He knew the King’s rule didn’t bring with it many days of idle happiness, even most of those parades being of a rigid and fake, yet overenthusiastic nature for the greatness of the Kingdom he’d constructed. The bugs of Hallownest haven’t yet seen a true carnival and Grimm’s sole goal was to make sure he’d deliver something that would forever remain in the minds of the bugs, something they’d never be able to forget. 

  
The city deserved this after the plague that ravaged through their beloved land, but deserved even more so after Grimm paid witness to their tireless work, busy citizens never once stopping from dawn until dusk. They truly wished for their Kingdom to once again relish in its former glory and be a fine counterpart for its neighbours. A day free of problems and gloom was all Grimm could gift them, yet deep within his heart had a bitter tang, for he believed they deserved so much more than that. 

  
All of Hallownest was beckoned to visit the city; stags have already delivered invitations up to the fading town of Dirtmouth, to the acidic Lake of Unn, the spore filled air of the mantis tribe and the golden walls of the Hive. As a sign and offer of peace even the Weavers of Deepnest were welcomed. Of course the bottom corner of every invitation was decorated with Hornet’s cursive signature. Without her help and high standards for precision Grimm’s efforts would have been to no avail, and Hollow wouldn’t have cared enough to try convincing them harder. Since their diplomatic meetings which ended in a frustrated misunderstanding they swore they’d never once again disturb those outside of the boundaries of their steady control.

  
Grimm’s smile grew a bit wider and a lot happier. Hollow knew him like none else, so then why did this never occur to them? Grimm, always the flamboyant ringmaster, right in the centre of attention, putting on a spectacle, living purely to entertain; that forever persistent desire to live life to the fullest and chase the pleasures was in his blood. What a pity it was that the times Hollow shared these desires were scarce.   
Grimm scoffed to himself, gaze averted from the imagined figure of his lover. By all sense the two should have never found peace and comfort in each other’s arms, but such a strange thing fate was in the labyrinth-like caverns of Hallownest. And who would be Grimm to challenge fate? 

  
A stray gust of chilly air travelled down the empty corridor and Grimm pulled his cloak tighter. He spared one last glance for the monument still in construction right where the knight’s memorial used to stand, then shrugged and continued his quest to make certain all would go as planned.   
_____ 

  
Much to Grimm’s annoyance he still couldn’t quite get used to the constant tapping of rain on his head and trickling down his neck only to seep into his cloak. 

  
But now wasn’t a time when he could let himself be bogged down by such trivial things when his plans were so grand. “I’d like the tents to be set up like this,” he gestured around the perimeter of the main square, “and for everything to face this,” he pointed at the monument still half-finished. 

  
“Might I be correct if I think revealing this would be the peak of the celebration?” Brumm wondered aloud.

  
“You are right, my friend,” Grimm patted his shoulder, chest starting to puff with pride, “and I trust you will once again prove us your expertise with how to entertain the crowd. Just remember to bring your accordion, they will love that. 

  
Grimm stepped closer to the monument whose idea was intended, by Hollow, to be truly theirs, but Grimm couldn’t bear being left ignored, not by his lover, at least. So, for days he clung to Hollow, whispering sweet nothings and pleas into their ear, wishing to unravel them and their secrets as if those were presents wrapped in a cold grey cloak and an indifferent look. Hollow failed to resist for long; they let Grimm to peek into their secret, their messy jottings on crumpled paper, scribbles and ink blotches that were rather ideas and fantasies than plans. That happened a month or so ago, Grimm guessed, and since then how far they have come. The gloomy blue square felt bare and empty without that ancient memorial Hollow had destroyed with their own hand, but now, with the foundations and the better part of the column being fully finished there were but a few last carvings to be engraved. But of course- 

  
Grimm’s eyes caught some movement in one of the palace’s windows and his train of thoughts came to an abrupt stop. He merely bid a humble farewell to Brumm and the grimmkins, then with hurried steps landing in the cold puddles, making his cloak even more soaked, he headed into the palace, already knowing what might await him. 

  
_____

  
And indeed, the lean and motionless figure of Hollow awaited him, sparing him just a moment of their inky gaze before that would fall back onto the blue cobblestones outside. Grimm cautiously looked around the seemingly infinite hallway, then stepped close to Hollow, shoulders gently brushing against the other’s. But, much to Grimm’s dismay, Hollow remained still as a statue carved from the most luxurious marble, reluctant to do or say anything.

  
“What’s on that curious mind of yours, now?” Grimm asked with a careful smile, leaning closer to his beloved. “I hope they aren’t doubts.”

  
Hollow’s answer was a shook of their head, but Grimm felt something tense in them, something else that weighed heavy on them from the inside. And for the millionth time there arrived the third guest, the black butterfly of silence, to grab hold of both, and to prevent any unnecessary words from breaking this trusted quiet of theirs. Grimm listened to Hollow’s faint breathing with half-lidded eyes, trying to figure out the labyrinth that Hollow was, and enjoying every moment of it. 

  
Hollow shifted, lifting his arm and draping their long cloak over Grimm, pulling him close, as if trying to bind the two of them together until the end of times. He felt soft and warm.

  
Grimm let out a loving chuckle, happy to finally have Hollow’s eyes meet with his. “Oh dear, if you’re in such a soft mood something must have happened. Tell me.”

  
As Hollow’s hand rested atop Grimm’s arm they wrote while not letting his crimson gaze to slip away. “Oh, I can’t express my love anymore?”

  
Grimm let out a rumbling purr as he, if it was even possible, drew even closer to Hollow, a content smile stretching over his features. “Of course, you can! Any time you wish,” and with that he planted a light kiss on their snout.

  
At last, Grimm felt his lover’s shoulders slouch a little as they let out a breath of air that they seemed to be holding in forever. Still, they remained silent. 

  
Grimm never could quite decide his relationship with silence, the bringer of content peace as well as tense gloom. Sometimes it was a gift, helping him realise the sweetness of his time with Hollow, but sometimes it was a curse, the same kind of quiet that was the fallen kingdom’s, preventing ideas from being voiced, connections from being made. This time what has descended upon them was like a blanket, but cold; sweet, yet sour, and much like a revelation while arising even more questions.

  
Out of ideas, Grimm intertwined their fingers and shared his warmth that Hollow always seemed to lack, failing to notice how a satisfied shudder ran through the knight. They stood there bound together, unmoving as time lost its meaning. They stood there in the sacred silence that was solely theirs, basking in the presence of each other, not needing any words to know how much the other loved them. At that moment, with both their gaze resting idly on the trickling raindrops on glass Grimm knew all would be well in the end, that while the two of them would stand side by side nothing could hurt them. 

  
Grimm felt Hollow’s fingers writing words on his shoulder. “I’m not sure.” 

  
Grimm’s focus shifted past the raindrops and onto the shrouded monument with just the last details to be carved. “It’s a novelty,” he mused in a reassuring voice, “but that’s what they need. They want to leave the past behind.”

  
Hollow’s wide black gaze seemingly pierced Grimm. “Then why keep me around?”

  
“Because you were always meant to be the future,” Grimm answered swift without a moment of hesitance.

  
Hollow drew in a deep breath of the chilly evening air and averted their gaze, mind working relentlessly on a clever comeback, when they’ve noticed something shifting in the dimness of the faraway end of the corridor. It seemed to be a tiny speck of a someone busy with the tasks of a mundane day, but the unwelcomed encounter made waves of void to tremble and thrash in Hollow. Once again, just when the dark blue softness of the night had started to wrap around them, they were forced to face reality.   
The servant, still one of the bravest of bugs to dare tread the palace halls, was getting closer, all their movements being followed by their king’s intense stare. They seemed to be in a strain to keep their focus on the cracked tiles ahead, but whole of Hallownest knew crossing paths with the king was a rare occasion, even for the retainers of the palace. As the distance closed Grimm noticed with a barely concealed frown of worry how Hollow’s every muscle had tensed, as if they were anticipating something unexpected to happen. The grey cloak slipped off his shoulder. As if they were expecting something bad to happen. 

  
The retainer picked up a slightly more hurried pace, and though they’ve tried hard even their light steps felt like the violent sounds of battle to Hollow. Their pale face had an expression of nervousness poorly masked by a sense of duty. Hollow didn’t anymore need to refine their mask of perfect thoughtlessness, but it was impossible even for the master of empty stares to hide their feelings from Grimm. 

  
The servant passed, burning under the stare of their king. There was but one reason for Hollow to watch the unwelcomed phenomenon so intently. They wished to decipher the lowly bug, to see the proof that in the eyes of the common bugs they were still something to be afraid of... to be something to lock up and forget about. 

  
And Hollow wished so strongly to find proof for what they wanted to, that the disdain glinted sharp and clear in the retainer’s eyes. 

  
Though crossing paths with a common bug was a rare occurrence Grimm grasped at the chance, gaze following Hollow’s. He travelled through lands and kingdoms, meeting with faces wherever he looked, and over the countless rituals he has learned to read faces as if they were open books. His crimson eyes narrowed, and though the retainer certainly carried an aura of unease, in them also hid a sparkle of awe. Awe for the one who, by all means, should have been broken and forgotten but defying fate has risen high. Grimm felt his heart twist in pain as he didn’t just know, but felt how different thoughts were chasing one another in Hollow’s mind. 

  
The retainer turned a corner and an odd silence had once again befallen the two. But this time it was suffocating, and Grimm felt burning hatred for how little he could do to change that. 

  
Without a word Hollow pulled their cloak tighter and started retreating back to their chamber. Grimm drew in a deep breath, watching as the lumafly lanterns dimmed, obediently giving space for the night. The city was near done repairing, and it shone with a more magnificent light than ever before. Now there remained one last thing to repair. The strong yet doubtful monarch alone atop the throne.

  
Grimm exhaled the breath he’d been holding in for too long and soundlessly followed in Hollow’s steps, now seeing more clearer than ever what his purpose was.

  
_____ 

  
A pair of crimson lanterns lit up in the dormant darkness: Grimm’s pair of eyes. He blinked long, his body telling him to settle back and lie beside the comfortably tall figure of Hollow, to have their body so perfectly fit together with his, to bask in each other’s warmth and peace while drifting off to sleep... But Grimm, in the dead of the night, had other things to do. And though now it took him a strong will to abandon his lover he knew it wouldn’t be for nothing. 

  
As he stood the cold night air seemed to hit stronger on his carapace than usual. A shiver ran down his body as he looked back at Hollow, watching their idly sleeping form with a shy smile, the kind overfilling with such love it was a shame Hollow couldn’t see it. At last, they seemed to be in true peace. Thorough the days, and little did Grimm know but years too, Hollow stood motionless for minutes, sometimes as if thinking, staring blankly, or mind treading on a land different than Hallownest. But whenever they became so statuesque and failed to notice the elegantly lurking Troupe Master, Grimm could see through the eternal dimness how tense they were. With their senses on edge and wild waves of void thrashing inside them, always so far from the shores or tranquillity. In scarce moments like that did Grimm wonder where Hollow could have picked up the habit of mind being well awake while their body seemingly bound by... something. 

  
But this chilly night was different, in many aspects. Hollow was at peace, forgetting about haunting memories and current problems, blissfully oblivious for all that was happening around them.  
Grimm sent a kiss to Hollow, grabbed hold of his cloak, then exited the chamber.

  
Gusts of chilly night air travelled down the streets, but were weak and frail compared to the fire of excitement in Grimm’s chest. The lumaflies dimmed in their slumber, but instead of the darkness came a different colour, a faint tint of red and orange sparks mingling with the inky dark blue. Grimm was glad to hear faint chatters and the rustle of tent canvases echoing off the cold cobblestones. Tomorrow would be a day to remember, everyone knew that except Hollow. Grimm didn’t just want the parade to be a surprise for them, but the threat of Hollow cancelling every and any attempt for a celebration was too real, even for Grimm to risk it. 

  
To say what the Troupe Master had planned was grand would have been too belittling. Hence all the hard work it required to set up the tents that would home all kinds of peculiarities, to string together the hundreds of lanterns that would light up the night, and to make certain every bug was attending to their duties. That was the sole reason Grimm abandoned their bed, to make certain all went according to the plan. 

  
“All seems well,” came Brumm’s voice out of nowhere as he approached Grimm, “but we won’t be finished until the morning.”

  
Grimm tore his gaze away from the monument ominously resting under a heavy veil, yet to be revealed. “I know. You will have the whole day to finish what is needed, I promise.”

  
Brumm lingered around a moment longer, eyes following what Grimm’s were so intensely watching. It was the palace that towered in the centre of the city, great and attention demanding, yet so utterly distant. “Are you sure they’ll like this?” Brumm asked.

  
“I know they will. You know it’s been a long time for everyone, let alone them. I’m afraid, my dear Brumm, this kingdom has forgotten under their many years of misery that even among these gloomy caverns happiness can be found.”

  
“I see them,” he glanced back at the bugs working together to set up large tent. “They are a little nervous.”

  
“That is to be expected. At first every novelty is a bit strange, but once they get a taste of it, they’ll love it.” 

  
“I hope so,” rumbled Brumm and quickly returned to his work, having to explain a couple butterflies why placing a garland so close to the brazier wasn’t a good idea. 

  
A content smile crept onto Grimm’s face as he left behind the warmth of the half-finished festival to tread through the rain and back into the palace, right back into the hand of his lover. 

  
The palace welcomed him with a sleepy whisper of winds and the door creaked friendly when Grimm entered their chamber, eyes dimmed in drowsiness, mind already half asleep, cold body yearning to be touched and warmed up. He lay down, hands blindly searching for the lean form of Hollow... But the bed was empty. Grimm’s eyes widened in panic as he shot up from the bed and nearly ripped the door out of its hinges as he rushed out of the room. Mere seconds ago his thoughts were at such peace and now his mind was loud buzzing with incoherent thoughts and worries and Hollow’s name. Why did they leave him? What could have possibly happened to them? Black and ominous possibilities arose from the chaos of Grimm’s mind, none of them helpful. 

  
The winding labyrinth-corridors of the palace suddenly felt disorienting and treacherous, and Grimm had no choice but to tear open every door, hoping he’d be met with Hollow. He knew too well Hollow could look after themselves, but it wasn’t really them he was worried for. It was everyone else.   
Hollow’s name echoed off the cold glass but was lost and devoured by the darkness of the night. Stairway after stairway, room after room all Grimm could do was to repeat Hollow’s name, hoping they haven’t done anything regrettable. 

  
Grimm glided through the halls with bright-red fire in his palms, as if some distressed phantom haunting the palace in search of peace. Peace that was nowhere to be found.   
The palace always emitted a feel of grand spaciousness and was a void to be filled, but now Grimm felt as if the fading walls were closing in around him, bringing with them an upsetting yet fake feeling of suffocation. 

  
Turning a corner and arriving into a narrow little corridor of cold-grey tiles and fraying crimson wallpaper Grimm froze, the fire in his palms seemingly motionless in time, words failing to escape his lungs. Stark against the gloom glowed a speck of pale white, a crown of divine halo atop a torso of inky black. The elegant head turned and round pools of void looked at Grimm with surprise and relief.

  
Hollow didn’t run; they teleported, right into Grimm’s arms. They appeared and pulled Grimm close with such suddenness that words have failed the ever-sparky Troupe Master. But maybe he didn’t have to talk to understand and feel how Hollow relished in his warmth and pulled him so close he was seemingly engulfed in their love. Grimm was glad to have stumbled upon Hollow and now could once again gaze into their pair of black eyes, feel their rumbling void under his fingertips and hear their quick breathing, still not quite calm. 

  
But Hollow’s embrace didn’t loosen nor did their tension seem to be vapouring away. “It’s alright my love, I’m here now,” he whispered in a velvet voice, taking a deep breath of Hollow’s scent of flowers and hot springs. 

  
“I couldn’t find you,” wrote Hollow on his back with trembling fingers and nestled their head into the crook of his neck. 

  
“I can look after myself, you shouldn’t have been so worried,” Grimm said with a kind smile Hollow couldn’t see. They didn’t answer, just remained motionless. “Hey,” Grimm whispered in a soft voice, trying to peel Hollow off of himself to look into their eyes. “What’s the matter?”

  
Hollow, reluctantly so, loosened their hug, but refused to meet Grimm’s gaze. “It was terrible.”

  
Concern etched into Grimm’s forehead. “What was?” 

  
The strength they were gifted with from birth seemed to be escaping through the cracks of their shell, leaving them vulnerable. “I couldn’t call your name. I heard your voice, but,” Hollow shrugged, frustrated, “but I couldn’t answer anything. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t... I couldn’t say anything.”

  
Grimm’s heart twisted in pain and pity. He cupped Hollow’s cheeks, urging them to finally look at him. “Oh, my love, you know how it hurts me that I can’t help, but... we’ve found each other without words. We always find each other. We cannot escape.” As to strengthen his point he kissed Hollow long and with such overflowing love Hollow melted under his touch. It always hurt Grimm when he was faced with things not even he had control over.

  
“I love you,” signed Hollow, cheeks blushed, eyes yet again picking up their own kind of liveliness. 

  
Grimm smiled. “I love you too.” 

  
_____ 

  
The sheets rustled gently as Grimm turned in the bed, a drowsy smile stretching across his features. “Pull me closer,” he mumbled with the haze of love dulling his voice. 

  
“Hold me tight,” Hollow wrote onto his shoulder, their movement of writing melting into sweet caress. Grimm obliged their wish, eternally happy to be gifted with such beautiful mornings. 

  
When he arrived into the kingdom of despair the air sat putrid and heavy in his lungs, the darkness was dangerous and menacing, the caverns were sharp and treacherous and the rain of the city froze his hot blood, making him shiver and urging him to move on as soon as he could. But since Hollow stood by their side day and night Hallownest has opened up to be a place of wonders; well hidden wonders, but awe-inspiring for the ones who knew where to look. 

  
The rain tapped a tranquil lullaby on the window and Grimm nestled close to Hollow, loving how their tall figure could so perfectly embrace him. His eyes were still closed and so Grimm listened to his senses; listened to the soothing rumble of Hollow’s chest, felt as it kept rising and falling in a steady rhythm, under his fingertips he felt them live and he was basking in the cloud of their divine scent which always held the power to calm him. 

  
Hollow’s fingers idly traced some shapes starting from his two horns and forehead, then slowly inching down on his chest and sides, this time truly feeling how Grimm’s intricate carapace shivered under their fingertips and pushed into the touch. 

  
The two savoured the moment and wished to preserve it forever, but no matter how many tricks Grimm had up in his sleeve, and how many ancient spells Hollow has learned, time refused to be frozen. And life demanded to continue on. 

  
But of course, for a few more minutes they could always ignore the outside world and be lost in each other’s embrace. 

  
_____ 

  
Hollow always found the main entrance of the palace to be unnecessarily attention-demanding with its grand two-winged door that gave a loud creak whenever it was opened. The dozen little back doors reserved for the servants were much more to their liking. Grimm usually made a point of using the great doors for entrance, grabbing at the opportunity to show everyone with a childish kind of pride that he just could, but this morning he didn’t mind to follow in Hollow’s steps. This morning was one of the rare times when Grimm was glad for Hollow’s avoidance of the main square, otherwise they would have seen all the ongoing preparations. This time he was glad to escape from the city with his lover by the side and explore the kingdom Hollow was always so reluctant to do so. 

  
In the mornings the freshening rain of the city was always accompanied by an eerie fog that hung from its tall towers and vast bridges like a veil. And beneath that veil in the close distance there stood a form reminiscent of Hollow, but a bit shorter than them. The silhouette shifted and moved towards the two, revealing their identity.

  
Grimm saw Hollow tense up in that typical way of theirs when their spine stiffed and chin was held slightly higher, as if trying to distance themselves while still watching attentively. They locked eyes with the unexpected familiar, two pools of void staring down into another two. In front of them stood the hero every bug sang songs about, the warrior still keeping onto their nail and watching over the kingdom as they had always done so. But for Hollow they were none else than their sibling, Ghost. Ghost, who was everything but one. 

  
“I visited her,” Ghost signed with a neutral expression. “You should too while it’s not too late.” They tried hard, but couldn’t hide an expression of bitter sorrow from their sibling who knew them better than nearly anyone.

  
“I will,” Hollow signed back and wiped at the rain streaming down their shell. 

  
Ghost averted their gaze, hands hesitant to sign something, but in the end they remained silent. They glanced at Grimm, the one bug they never could quite decide what to think about, and tried hard to hide their look of jealousy. Jealousy for Grimm, an outsider, had managed to find the common voice with Hollow, something Ghost had always struggled with. 

  
“We’ll meet again,” signed Ghost and effortlessly melted into the swirling rain and fog of the capital. 

  
Hollow watched after their sibling for long moments before their gaze once again landed on the crimson figure of Grimm. “I’m going to visit her.”

  
A look of mild worry sat on Grimm’s face. “Are you sure?”

  
Hollow didn’t answer but looked at him in a such a way, with such confidence and determination that a shiver ran down Grimm’s carapace, and they both knew nothing would stop them now. 

  
_____

  
The moss on the cavern walls filled the air with an earthy scent. Water droplets occasionally falling from the high ceiling shone in the rays of dim light like tiny jewels, and when they landed in the tiny puddles on the ground they rang like a chorus of small bells, their melody bouncing off the cold walls and travelling into the black unknown. 

  
Grimm shouldn’t have, yet felt strange seeing Hollow without their pure nail, or any sort of weaponry for that matter. Maybe the dangers which remained lurking in the caves were scarce, but Hollow just wasn’t made to be without a weapon. 

  
Grimm lost his sense of time among the dull walls and the monotone sound of dripping water, and though holding Hollow’s hand always provided him with a level of warmth and comfort, he was getting bored by the lack of stimuli. So, he turned inwards and delved deep into his thoughts that otherwise wouldn’t have surfaced, let alone be said out loud.

  
“It isn’t just you, you know,” Grimm said, his voice loud and matter of factly against the silence. Hollow glanced down at him, a curious glint in their eyes. “You believe it’s solely you who had to face hardships after things have changed. The only difference between you and everyone else is that they managed to move on. You didn’t.” There were times when Grimm, always prioritizing action above all else, got tired of encouraging Hollow with sweet words and whatnots. When the realization that Hollow wouldn’t bring themselves to change hit him in the chest, he failed to find the strength to contain himself. But this was the first time he lost his patience so much he couldn’t anymore bear to stay silent. Surely a more serious tone would help to open up Hollow’s eyes and might help them to take action. 

  
It was as clear as the waters of the Blue Lake that Hollow was struck by genuine surprise. Their hand abandoned Grimm’s, but couldn’t bring themselves to sign anything coherent. Grimm’s words didn’t sound particularly harsh, nor were they lies, but Hollow just wasn’t used to this. Not coming from Grimm anyway. 

  
Grimm’s eyes shone with a burning and dangerous fire, his mouth twisted in a grumpy fashion and his posture told Hollow he was waiting for an explanation. An explanation which Hollow couldn’t provide. They could only provide Grimm with memories. Those words of discontent, pitying looks of disapproval and suffocating air of the knowledge that they were in the wrong... those weren’t fit for Grimm, but someone Hollow thought they had lost long ago in a distant dream. The dream was re-emerging; what have they done wrong this time? 

  
Maybe Grimm knew, but the thought slipped by in his busy mind, but hostility barely did anything good to Hollow. No, it just upset them. “You speak easily,” they signed cautious yet tense, “you always find your way.”

  
Grimm put a hand on his hip, his expression serious. “So, you think nightmare creatures are welcomed with opened arms wherever they go? I came to feed off of your crumbling kingdom and the bugs treated me as such, as an omen of misfortune. But I sacrificed time and determination to change their opinions, and it’s you who know best I’ve succeeded.” 

  
Hollow’s eyes narrowed as they took a few unsteady steps away from Grimm. “You think I don’t envy you for that?” 

  
With a few long strides Grimm approached Hollow and leant into their face, so close they could feel each other’s breaths fanning. “Stop envying,” there was a strange strain in his low voice which mingled with the shared frustration looming in the air. His face contorted into a weird grimace Hollow couldn’t quite make out; it was a kind of expression that was unknown to them. That said, they didn’t like Grimm like this.   
“I’m trying,” Hollow denied that emerging sense of fright among their barely-restrained waves of void and instead answered the same way they had been taught since day one: sharp defiance and anger. They leant forward and taking advantage of their height peered down at Grimm.

  
“Try harder!” The shout rang loud and sudden, its echo reverberating among the cavern walls for long moments before dying out. Grimm grabbed at Hollow’s collar, pulling them close. His expression was one of sadness and hurt, but Hollow could only hear the shock of unkind words. How could it be that the air was growing ever hot around them, yet Grimm never felt so cold?

  
Hollow freed themselves from his grasp and once again backed away, confused and stumbling. “Please understand not everyone can be like you.” Grimm’s pain and frustration only worsened when he saw a shiny glint of distrust in their inky eyes. 

  
Hollow turned their back at the distressed Grimm and with hasty steps wished to get far from him. Grimm momentarily froze, struggling to realize what just happened. He was afraid he might never see Hollow again.

  
“I’m not saying you should be like me,” his voice of raging fire burned against the cold rocks. “But you shouldn’t end up like him.” Hollow came to an abrupt stop, watching Grimm from the corner of their eye. Then they slowly turned, eyes shooting pitch lightnings, and once again they towered in front of Grimm like a mountain gathering stormclouds at its peak. 

  
“Don’t compare me to my father.” Their shadow seemed a shade darker than before. 

  
Grimm stood his ground, unmoving. “Don’t deny the obvious,” he hissed, fangs glinting. 

  
Grimm barely had time to register Hollow shoving him against the rough rocks. The two stood there frozen in time, none wanting to be the first to act. Grimm felt the pressure of Hollow’s hand on his chest, heard the sound of their heaving chest and saw their cold demeanour of yet contained anger. 

  
Then Hollow shifted, etching the words into his chest, “I’m not like him.”

  
A strange and unwelcomed feeling emerged in Grimm and gripped at his throat. “I’m not saying you are like him; I’m merely warning you not to fall into the same mistakes.”

  
Hollow’s head tilted in slight confusion, “Don’t act like you know what happened before you came here.”

  
At this point none had the strength to refrain from voicing the truth. “Your father went into hiding because he was scared and abandoned everything, turning his back on everyone but himself.”

  
Hollow wanted to snap back a curse, but their fingers trembled and refused to sign anything coherent. Their head kept buzzing with foul memories and bitter thoughts and just wished for all this to end.

  
“I can’t let you to end up rotting in that palace of yours!” Grimm’s voice once again rose with high pitches of frustration in it. His eyes had a strange shine to them. 

  
A sudden sigh escaped him when the pressure on his chest lifted and he saw Hollow pull away with denial clear on their pale features. Their eyes were round with confusion and Grimm felt a sudden ache in his whole being when he saw he’s scared them. The sound of Hollow’s rhythmic steps landing in puddles resumed, and Grimm was left behind. His heart twisted and a bitter taste sat on his tongue, but the realisation arrived too late. 

  
He truly believed putting their always so romantic tone in the background would leave some place for actions, but Hollow got scared. Grimm looked after them, head buzzing with an unnerving amount of thoughts and curses and worries. For the first time his voice sounded frail and afraid, “Can’t you see I’m doing this because I love you?” he asked into the labyrinth of the kingdom, but no reply came, just the echoes of his last words. 

  
He took a deep breath of the chilly air and stormed down the halls with determination lingering around him. 

  
_____ 

  
Hollow brought with them a grey cloud of worry when entering the Queen’s Gardens. The garden’s deep greens and turquoises had a soothing effect on any bug that would decide to explore the vast jungle not so long ago ruled by savage mantises. Hollow had sweet yet sour ties to the place. In their younger years they may have visited it once, on one of those rare days when they weren’t forced to train and fight. But they knew what hid beneath the dense foliage, and the knowledge filled them with even more unease. They craned their neck, searching for a speck of red among the greens and purples, but it seemed as they were alone. Hollow didn’t remember the path to her lair, yet somehow knew where they’d find her. Something tugged at the void inside their shell, something familiar and divine, calling them. 

  
They trekked through dense forests of venomous plants and large thorns slick with poison, but in the end, right in the middle of a little clearing, after all those years, they once again stood in front of it. The place she called a safe haven. It protected her from the outside, and the outside from her. An odd, pale glow seemed to be lingering around the strange egg. 

  
An unsettling smell has hit Hollow as they ducked low to fit through the narrow tunnels, but they couldn’t yet pinpoint what it was exactly. They heard the high-pitched melody of wind-chimes travelling through the stale air. They were forced to squint as her sudden bright glow hit them. They realized what that smell was, and suddenly felt inclined to turn back, afraid of what might meet them at the end of the tunnel. It resembled the sickly-sweet scent of the infection, but in a sense was worse than that. What filled their nostrils and soon travelled to their head was the suffocating scent of decay. A slow kind of decay, so slow one could barely notice, but Hollow recognized it. The void in them thrashed, urging them to turn back while they could.

  
“Is that you, Dryya?” her voice was always elegant, but now it has weakened into a frail whisper. Hollow ventured deeper into her lair. “No, it’s a silent one.” Hollow couldn’t answer. “A silent one came by already, but again there are many silent ones.” There was a long stretch of silence and Hollow wasn’t sure whether she was talking to them or herself. “There were,” she spoke again, voice getting more definite by the moment. 

  
Hollow studied the face of their mother. She was as elegant as ever, but her eyes scared them. In her eyes swirled a thick light blue fog, making them empty. A painful sense of irony stung their side. One of them stripped from their voice, the other from her sight. 

  
Hollow approached her, wishing to touch her as means of a last goodbye, only to be violently thrown back by the flash of a spell. Their eyes widened as they stood. Of course, how could they forget her seal of binding.

  
“I know which one you are,” she said as if nothing had happened. “you are the brave one, or at least that is how your siblings call you,” her voice was as delicate and strong as the weavers’ silk. “From now on I too will call you the brave one. Brave, for you were the only one courageous enough to take on a role none can succeed in.”

  
Hollow didn’t understand why their steps have suddenly become wobbly. The chamber was entwined with white roots. Hollow put a hand on one of the roots, glad those weren’t protected by ancient spells. They were silky smooth, but slightly cold to the touch.

  
“You have accepted a heritage none would have dared to. I would not have dared to. Your father,” a twitch ran along Hollow’s face, “he threw that heritage into the Abyss, refusing to face it. But you,” something rang clear in her voice, but Hollow didn’t want to acknowledge it. “You took it into your hand and embraced it. For that I thank you.” 

  
Hollow couldn’t speak, yet felt no words worthy of saying would come to them anyway. They stood by her roots, frozen and unsure what to do. This was never meant to happen in the first place. They were never meant to leave the Black Egg, they were never meant to visit their mother. And they were never meant to see her dying. She looked down at them with adoration and a sense of innocent cluelessness Hollow had so often envied.

  
“Why are you still here, my child?” she asked in a fragile voice. “I do not want anyone to see me like this. Let me be, my child, and go. Others need you more than anything else.” 

  
Hollow’s black hand rested on her white roots, a stark and strange contrast, and they watched her eyes slowly close as she drifted off into a dream. Her glow fainted but haven’t yet faltered. Hollow didn’t want to wait until the chamber sank into darkness.

  
_____ 

  
They found Grimm sitting on the grass near the entrance of the egg, idly picking at leaves and tiny plants. As he noticed Hollow his eyes lit up with a bright shine and he hopped onto his feet like a compressed spring. 

  
“How did it go?” he asked, acting like nothing had happened, yet still careful.

  
Hollow shrugged, their mask of neutrality back on their face. With long strides they passed by Grimm and headed back into the kingdom’s heart.

  
The jungle that the unattended garden has become was still thick around the two when Grimm could bear the silence and looming gloom no more. 

  
He plopped down onto one of the rusty benches already half-devoured by vines. “I can’t,” again, Hollow noticed that strange strain in his otherwise always so steady voice. 

  
They halted and looked back at Grimm. His shoulders were slouched, back bent, face buried in his hands. Hollow couldn’t let the broken Troupe Master to be left like that. After a few moments of tense hesitation they sat on another tattered bench opposite Grimm and waited. Waited from Grimm to pour onto them yet another cold shower of harsh facts and disappointment. 

  
Grimm’s gaze lifted from the grass beneath and rested on Hollow. Unblinking, he wished Hollow would know how it filled him with a sense of peace each time his eyes could drink in that beautiful sight that was them. Grimm watched them some more. The corner of his mouth twisted, some odd satire of a sour smile; they knew Hollow would never believe in their own beauty. They would never quite understand how much Grimm loved them. 

  
Hollow sat patiently, their fingers tapping an empty melody on the iron. Among their crashing waves of void curiosity and dread were battling, for Grimm’s glances were of a nature he’s never shown them before. They weren’t holding any anger, but they couldn’t be sure about Grimm. 

  
A long sigh tore up from Grimm’s chest. “My love...” Grimm began but his voice quickly faltered, lost in that ever-constant buzz of the gardens. 

  
Hollow’s head tilted and tried their best to mask that sudden surge of relief. It seemed like Grimm’s fire of anger has been tamed and put to rest. 

  
The empty melody stopped. “You don’t really know what to say,” Hollow signed, “right?”   
Grimm replied with a mere scoff. 

  
Hollow took a minute to take in the greenery of the gardens and only continued once they made sure the two of them were by themselves. “I don’t really know what to say either.” Grimm supressed a smile when he saw them blush. Hollow took a deep breath of the humid air and leant back a bit. “Do you know why I love you?”

  
“You love me?” Grimm asked quieter than a whisper. 

  
But Hollow has heard the words. “Of course, I love you.” Grimm opened his mouth for another question, but Hollow was faster. “Yes, even after all this.” Grimm fell silent. “But do you know why?” Grimm shook his head. “Because you are not like the others. I don’t think you truly understand, my love. You weren’t born into this kingdom; you have no ties to it. Every knowledge you have about its history is from stories and the Archives. You barely know the infection, let alone what went on in Hallownest during his reign.”  
Grimm slowly nodded, unsure what exactly Hollow was trying to say. “When you first arrived here all you saw was another kingdom in despair slowly slipping into decay, just another place to harvest your flames. You had no prejudices, not about anything,” they paused and averted their gaze, “not even about me.” 

  
A careful smile of adoration crept onto Grimm’s softened features.

  
Hollow continued on, their movements quick, eyes alive. “When I first saw you, truth be told, the world was still fuzzy and unbearably bright for me, but I knew you weren’t a creature of Hallownest. You didn’t think of me as a failed promise, or a monster corrupted, you just...” they struggled to find the right words, “you were... just there... unafraid.” 

  
Grimm’s heart was a molten mess of love. “I only saw how every bug, except your siblings, steered far away from you. You were there, so weak and frail, yet so strong. I couldn’t left you there in the darkness.”

  
Hollow held Grimm’s crimson gaze for long moments. There was not a speck of anger or frustration or any of those foul feelings left inside them. 

  
But Grimm couldn’t quite yet be sure about what was going on in that curious mind of Hollow’s. He was waiting, refraining from his urges to just stand up and embrace Hollow, not wanting his hastily made decisions to ruin the moment. 

  
“Grimm, love,” Hollow signed, a smug expression on their face. “Come here,” they gestured at the seat next to them.

  
Grimm stood and with a content smile took his place in Hollow’s lap, as if that was the only place in existence he was ever meant to be. He kissed them long and loving.

  
“I think you might be right,” Hollow wrote on his chest. Grimm pulled away, eyes wide and glittering with wonder. “I think it’s finally time to bring upon some change. I don’t want to throw it away... I accept the heritage bestowed on me.” There was a strange shine at the bottom of their black eyes, one Grimm doubted he’s seen before. In Hollow he discovered a sense of duty and dedication.

  
Grimm leant in for another kiss. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any kind of a feedback is highly appriciated. Thank you! <3


	4. Chapter 4 - Tonight We Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The City of Tears is the most alive it has ever been, and Grimm cannot resist the urge to be swept into a dance.
> 
> (It's smut, that's what this is)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha, you thought I'd only write a thrid chapter! Surprise!
> 
> Enjoy <3

“Can’t we just use one of the less obvious entrances?” Hollow signed with mild concern etched onto their face. 

  
Grimm has been smiling since they’ve left the gardens behind, but now he wasn’t even trying to hide his sense of joy and excitement. “But my love, have you forgotten what grand event happens this lovely afternoon?” Hollow sent him a puzzled glance. “The monument designed by your very self.” Grimm’s voice had a mischievous lilt to it, pushing Hollow into confusion even more.

  
Hollow’s eyes held a dozen questions, but the cavern has begun to widen and reveal a beautiful sight of the City of Tears. Hollow’s eyes got caught on the well-known sight, but their city was given a new look, a freshly sewn dress of strange lights. The gentle rain has blurred together dull patches of blue with glowing reds and myriads of other colours. 

  
“Grimm, what have you done this time?”

  
Grimm stepped next to Hollow, interlacing their fingers. His voice rang happily, “Why don’t you go there and find out?” 

  
Hollow felt as if their head was spinning among the sudden surge of sights to see, music to hear and things to smell. They knew something grand was taking place when even the very outmost skirts of the city were decorated with billowing lanterns and beautiful flowers, and all kinds of bugs were hurrying towards the heart of the city with a rarely seen aura of excitement emitting from them. But by the time they arrived at the main square they were ever so grateful for Grimm to be by their side and be their only anchor keeping them in reality. The air was heavy with spices and fire, flower petals and stray raindrops, and a strange sense of sweetness hung in the air, coating everything. Hollow failed to decide where to look among the hundreds of huts and booths, each offering something new and previously unseen for the senses. Many merchants were shouting their wares of colourful cloaks, shiny charms, delicate household items, tasty food and even sparkling jewellery. There were all sorts of dancers and the braver bugs dared to show their talents to the others, whether that was juggling, magic tricks or other oddities Hollow only saw Grimmkins perform before. Nevertheless, it left everyone’s mouths opened in a gasp. The air was alive with the background hum of a thousand conversations, laughter and singing. Youth and elders danced alike, some showing off extravagant moves. The streets were flooded this time not by rain, but a sea of travellers, most of which Hollow guessed arrived from faraway corners of the kingdom. And when their gaze travelled upwards along the lines of stretching spires, they saw butterflies, ladybugs and other winged-kinds gliding in the air in flowing dresses, occasionally hinting handfuls of flower petals onto the cheerful guests below.

  
And there were guests whose arrival came as a surprise, even for Grimm. Some of the buzz in the air quite indeed belonged to the bees of the Hive, and Hollow noticed weaverlings running along the colourful garlands, strengthening them with their silk. A stark contrast against the red of the lanterns was the lush greenness of the mosskin who’ve ventured far from the acidic lakes. Of course, there were others who Hollow would have expected to be foes, but the flowing masses have started to blur together into one joyous mass of many shapes and colours.

  
Barely a few raindrops have landed on Hollow’s cheeks and the shiver of cold which usually ran through them was drowned out by the warmth of thousands of braziers and lanterns. 

  
Grimm smiled as he watched Hollow, their glittering gaze jumping from sight to sight, their head turning round and round, not knowing where to look, what novelty to experience first.

  
“This will get better,” Hollow glanced down at their beloved. “The festival has barely started, and they don’t seem like this’ll be over soon.” 

  
“Why?” That was all Hollow could coherently sign.

  
Grimm shrugged. “Why not? And besides, you too know how much everyone needed this.” Grimm leant close to their face, putting a hand on their chest. “Even you.” 

  
With a sudden move Grimm grabbed Hollow’s hand and started dragging them through the endless festival with an impossible amount of excitement sparkling in his crimson eyes.

  
Realisation has struck Hollow, leaving a strange tingling feeling within them. This is what made Grimm truly feel alive. He glided through the mass of revellers like fast and elegant flames, sometimes stopping for but a fraction of a second to snatch off some delicacy from some vendor’s trays. 

  
As Hollow was dragged through the sea of many faces, they tried to catch a few glances of disgust and shock, but... there were none. Everyone’s faces were bright with relief and relaxation, their many eyes emitted a carefree shine that, Hollow felt, has started sticking onto themselves. 

  
“Where are we going?” Hollow wrote onto Grimm’s palm.

  
He spared but a second of his attention which was in search for something. “Have you forgotten what truly was the purpose of all this?”

  
Before Hollow could utter anything else the crowd has parted, giving the atmosphere some well-deserved peace, puffs of blues and humid air getting their kingdom back for a moment. It was strange for most bugs of the capital as well as Hollow; they were led to believe that the memorial for their sacrifice would outlive even time itself, but its memory has already started fading in their minds, just like all the rest of those painful events of the past. Now they were awaiting what their new king would gift to the generations to come, and to make the memory of their legacy last eternal. 

  
Grimm tried no more to wipe that knowing and proud smile off his face. Hollow felt as if the void was fizzing inside their shell. The fingers fidgeted with Grimm’s, impatience slowly filling them up. The shroud covering the monument hang ominously yet promising on the stone. The crowd grew denser, excited chatters travelling along the groups of clueless bugs.

  
Hollow cast a glance of uncertainty down at their lover. “Are you sure?” they asked with eyes round in innocence.

  
Grimm pressed a kiss on their knuckle. “You know I am, and you know it’s going to be spectacular.” Then his gaze hooked on the colourful company around and suddenly he became the ever so flamboyant Troupe Master. “What are we waiting for, everyone?” his voice rang loud, confident and overjoyed as he claimed the spotlight for himself in the middle of the square, relishing among the looks of awe and wonder. “We shall wait no longer; so, let us reveal the new centrepiece of the capital!”

  
A collective cheer roared through the kingdom as fire lit up in Grimm’s palm which, by a subtle touch, quickly spread over to the big veil covering the monument that Hollow designed themselves. The flames crept up the fabric, not seeming to care how soaked it was, and lit up the night in an enchanting shade of passionate crimson. But the grand bonfire came to end in a matter of seconds when the fabric was no more and the little ash that it left behind got cleared away by the rain. 

  
Hollow could never settle on a single bug or event to be the topic of a long-lasting memorial in such an important place, how could they? No, they wanted any wanderer who have stumbled into the city to know the big picture, to see the past’s happiness and suffering as well. The memorial was a high column stretching elegantly into the sky, it’s base finely engraved with twisting vines, ornaments and the symbol of Hallownest. And on the column revolved the history of the kingdom. The epics of ancient battles and great rulers were carved at the bottom and as time moved forwards new places and figures could be seen. This, Hollow hoped, would be no fake honour or pride, but the truth that everyone could understand. And Grimm saw on each and every bugs’ faces as they marvelled at the delicate yet definite work of the finest masters one could commission, the novelty surprising, but welcomed. 

  
The cheers and gasps of awe have faded for the moment and the square has started to clear, most of the bugs already in a keen search for what more the carnival had to offer.

  
Grimm smiled at Hollow. He failed to remember the last time his heart was pounding so fast with happiness and joy. “What do you wish to do, my love?” 

  
Hollow’s gaze swept through the rows of booths, stages, tents and spectacles filling the square and the narrow streets all around. “I...” their fingered hovered hesitant in the air, gaze still not settling on Grimm, “don’t really know.”

  
“Then, my love,” his voice dipped low and velvet, “I know exactly just what we’ll welcome this parade with.” And once again Grimm dragged Hollow through the mass of excitement and curiosity, knowing his way around the loud labyrinth far too well. 

After navigating through a handful of narrow alleyways and arriving to a different, but just as much lively, square Grimm came to a sudden halt, Hollow nearly bumping into him.

  
Grimm drank in the beautiful sight of Hollow and slowly dragged a finger along their arm. “Tonight, my love,” he whispered close to Hollow’s ear, sending shivers down their carapace, “we shall dance.”   
Hollow barely had time to comprehend his sweet words before Grimm waved at a band of musicians resting by the pavement. The musicians nodded, their strange instruments waiting ready without Grimm having to say a word, and Hollow had the creeping suspicion that all this wasn’t a work of fortune.   
The sound of rain hitting cobblestones soon got drowned out by a slow yet happy melody of brilliant strings and elegant woodwinds; perfect for a loving waltz. 

  
Grimm noticed the startled look on Hollow’s face that seemed to be paler than usual. “You surely know how to dance, don’t you?”

  
Hollow didn’t answer, but their cheeks turned into a shade of pink. Did Grimm really think they ever had the time or opportunity to learn the delicate process of gliding carelessly across a dancefloor? Once or twice, they saw others do it, but... that provided no help. 

  
Grimm put a hand on their cheeks, pulling their thoughts back into the present. “You have no idea what you are missing out on.” There hid a sparkle of hope in his eyes. “Don’t worry, just follow my lead and feel the music.” His one hand held Hollow’s, the other rested on their shoulder.

  
“Everyone is watching us,” Hollow wrote onto his palm. Under his fingertips Grimm could feel their tension caused none else but nervousness. He knew they weren’t used to any of this. 

  
“Not one soul is paying any attention to us,” his assurance came as a gentle whisper and he squeezed Hollow’s hand. 

  
The music was unlike any kind Hollow has heard before, though truth be told, they haven’t had many chances to educate themselves in the arts. But against their body Grimm felt as confident as ever, gently pulling or pushing Hollow at the right moments while lazily humming along to the flow of music. Meanwhile Hollow’s sole focus was on trying not to step on Grimm. 

  
“What do you think of all this so far?” Grimm asked, voice hopeful.

  
“I think... it’s beautiful.” The music picked up some pace. “The weavers have come.”

  
“I told all you need is patience and persistence.” Hollow noticed a strange and oddly enchanting look on Grimm’s face which seemed to trap their attention.

  
“How am I doing so far?” Hollow asked.

  
“You need some practice with the fine art of waltz, but I have faith in you.” 

  
“That’s not what I-” but Grimm has sent them pirouetting around the colourful place, always just managing not to collide with the other dancers and revellers. The flow of music cried loud into the dusk, shedding down the lacquer of finesse which the day have so often demanded; and so, its romantic and measured rhythm of a waltz melted into one fast melody of joyous and carefree dance music, which Hollow struggled to confine into one single style. Grimm tried to drag them along for a few more rounds but all the swift twists and turns made their head dizzy, and so they slipped out of Grimm’s confident hold.

  
Hollow stood right in the middle of the square which tonight served as a dancefloor. Grimm got carried on by the music for a few more strides, but he too realized dancing alone brought little to no fun. He watched with a satisfied and slightly amused tilt of his head the way Hollow struggled to keep steady, their body still swaying to the music that by now has lost all discipline, the world most probably spinning around themselves. 

  
Hollow’s tall form rose above the crowd, their presence regal even now, their pale glow enhanced by the city’s deep blues, never fully letting them to blend in. 

  
Hollow’s gaze was glued to Grimm’s vivid figure, and in the back of their mind they had the creeping suspicion he has barely started. And indeed, they realised just how right they were when Grimm’s posture straightened just slightly, his chin held high in pride and confidence, eyes sparkling red with mischief and excitement, and a secretive smile tugged at his lips. 

  
“You look beautiful,” Grimm... signed? Hollow thought they have seen a trick, but this time no sounds have left Grimm, it was only his fingers that moved. Even though they were, Hollow shouldn’t have been surprised; Grimm too has learned sign language along with them, but they never witnessed him use it in such a way. 

  
Oh, how much Grimm loved to catch them off-guard. The two stood in what once may have been the spotlight, but now they were just two among the thousands who thought the night was solely theirs. Hollow was uncomfortable, Grimm has seen their fidgeting hand, but they both knew this secret language wasn’t shared by many.

  
“Why must you always flatter me?” Hollow asked innocent.

  
Grimm shrugged, a sliver of honesty already on his tongue when he decided to bite it back and wrap themselves into the mystery of the carnival of such strange sights. 

  
“I just try to enjoy everything to the fullest. It wasn’t often I stayed in the same place for so long,” he signed with faked causality, as if there was something much more hiding beneath that smug look of his. 

  
Grimm has always liked to play games, Hollow has experienced that already, but the gusts of fast music, fascinating sights and unique scents lingering in the heavy and seemingly enchanted air have given a strange feel to the whole of the city. A feeling that whispered to them this night was theirs, and so the two had no bounds they had to obey. 

  
“Oh, I know you have just barely started,” so if Grimm wanted so, Hollow would play along. 

  
Grimm let out a chuckle, fangs glinting in the red light. “What makes you think that?” 

  
The answer awaited on Hollow’s fingertips, but the feeling of being watched and silently judged clung onto them like mud. Many other bugs and other creatures were around, small and big, some slithering, some flying above, some naturally colourful and ones with perfect mimicry. But all of them were so engulfed in their own little dances and songs and romances that for the first time... Hollow had felt no shame. No blaming stares burned at their carapace, no scoffs of ridicule have hit their ears. They were left to enjoy their own peace in the company of others, not having to escape to the palace just to be able to breathe normally. They could tread the streets of their own city as if they were just one of the many. And Hollow realised that moment wasn’t just ‘as if’, but that standing in the centre of the parade they were accepted.

  
Their gaze burned deep into Grimm. The Troupe Master, always right by their side, encouraging even in their darkest moments. Hollow didn’t care about the others no more. 

  
Grimm smiled at them and they wished they could smile back. “I know that look in your eyes, Grimm. Far too well.” 

  
“I’m certain you do, but what does that look tell you?” Grimm signed as the air seemed to vibrate around him. He has noticed a change in Hollow’s posture; they emitted a sense of duty and honour fit for a king and finally, as Grimm’s eyes widened in awe, they wore the crack on their forehead like a crown.

  
“It tells me you know little to no bounds when it comes to enjoying things. And it whispers me promises.” 

  
Grimm has found out Hollow’s pitch eyes were perfectly capable of mirroring the roguish glint he believed to be solely his. “I could give you some promises,” his eyes narrowed. “You know it’s not a habit of mine to break them.” His words have arrived at a slower pace as he tasted every sweet moment of their shameless and brutally honest conversation of theirs. 

  
In Hollow’s vision all the other dancing and singing bugs have melted into one mass, the only sharp and definite form belonging to the fiery Grimm. He was their only focus. He was the one who always mattered the most to Hollow. 

  
“What can you promise me?” The void bubbled with excitement within Hollow. 

  
An impish grin stretched wide across Grimm’s face. “This night is yours. I can give you anything your voidheart desires.” 

  
Their void rumbled, impatient. “If it wasn’t for your scrap of weak self-discipline I’d be already pushed up against a wall, am I wrong?” 

  
Oh, how lucky they were to share this peculiar and soundless language of theirs. “You would be begging, my love,” Grimm signed slow, overconfident yet forever loving. Chills have slithered down Hollow’s carapace. 

  
“You seem you’re not in any doubt,” they slightly leant towards Grimm, as if daring him to step closer.

  
A low and raspy chuckle have left him yet again. “Would you want to test my theory?” Grimm heard Hollow’s sea of void rumble, their own kind of laugh. “You are beautiful tonight my love, but have I told you that cloak of yours would look better on the ground?” What began as a small spark of excitement in Grimm has grown into a fire that threatened to devour his common sense and give him the thrill that came with taking risks. 

  
Hollow’s eyes were but two slivers of black stark against white. Their fingers moved slow, stretching out each moment of tension as much as they could. “Come and take it if you dare.” Yes, the air was most certainly vibrating around Grimm by now. Grimm’s gaze was one of hunger as he yet again took in the sight of Hollow, but that alone wasn’t a feast satisfying enough.

  
The revellers were but a mass of nameless no ones, but out of the corner of their eyes Hollow couldn’t help but notice a presence that was different from the others. At the very edge of their vision, vague yet vibrant they noticed a red patch. Their curiosity fizzing within got the better out of them and they turned their head, Grimm’s gaze following theirs.

  
The two lovebug’s pounding hearts skipped a beat. There, by a little booth at the edge of the dancefloor stood Hornet, embarrassment and anger tinting even the tips of her horns red; her fingers curled around a cup with such force she threatened to shatter it. Beside her stood Ghost, casually leaning onto the counter, a wrong sense of amusement clear and undeniable on their features. 

  
Grimm’s cunning smile froze onto his face as he discovered that Hornet seemed to be fuming. The finely chiselled glass shattered in her hands, startling her slightly. Not many could have the strange effect on Hollow their sister did. Despite her small figure everyone knew just how dangerous and impressively ambitious she could be, sometimes so much so it wasn’t once Hollow had thought she should be the one on the throne. And even in this carnival her gaze radiated a rare kind of strength that was as fine yet strong as silk. And not even now Hollow could rip their gaze away from her. They have seen her angry, but this time... she wasn’t truly furious, that prickling stare and that frown were just a mask to hide her - she fidgeted with the broken remains of glass - immeasurable sense of embarrassment. 

  
Grimm couldn’t hold back anymore and a poorly supressed laugh escaped him. 

  
Hollow’s glare stung at his carapace, but all that has achieved was even more thrill flowing through his veins. “Don’t laugh!” 

  
He sent them a grin stripped of any kind of shame, but said or signed nothing further on. 

  
Hornet dropped a pouch rattling with geo into the hands of the contently awaiting Ghost, then turned to the two lovers and signed with jittery fingers. “If I catch you,” she pointed an accusing finger at Grimm, “pushing them against... anywhere, I will see to you two myself.” 

  
Hollow realised too late this was the time to drag Grimm faraway before his boundless mind unable to understand the concept of consequences would make things any worse. Grimm shrugged, a lacquer of foolish bravery reflecting the lights. “If that’s what you’re trying to say, you are welcome to join anytime.”

  
Hollow could only catch a glimpse of Hornet’s eyes widening to the size of saucepans before they dragged Grimm away and the two conveniently melted into the dense crowd of dancers. 

  
“If I were you, I’d avoid her for the next couple days,” signed Hollow with a scornful look once they found refuge in a secluded alleyway. “Or weeks.” 

  
On Grimm’s face sat a dazed smile, thrills still reverberating within him. “Have you seen her face?” he chuckled with amusement. “Your always so poised sister nearly fainted.” His eyes shone with mischief. “Did you see the pouch of geo?” he scoffed, amused. “They placed bets on us, I think.”

  
“You are not the subtlest with relationships,” Hollow sighed.

  
“I’m not the subtlest with many things,” he mused with half-lidded eyes, leaving the conversation hanging in the air.

  
Hollow put a hand on their hip, looking down at the gleeful Troupe Master with a spiky gaze only to utterly fail. The void in them rumbled and bubbled, giving way to a unique laugh. How could they be mad at Grimm, of all bugs? 

  
Hollow sent them an adoring glance. “But you can’t just-” 

  
“What can’t I do, my love?” he asked in a voice that no longer masked his intentions. He attempted to rise high enough to meet Hollow’s cheek, but Hollow didn’t give in just yet. 

  
“You can’t just shout out loud whatever’s on your mind.” They didn’t lean in for a kiss. If Grimm wanted them so bad, he’d have to put more effort into his flirting techniques.

  
“You seemed to like it,” his voice crackled like warm fire ready to flare up any moment. “All I want is to let them know you’re with me, that you are not alone. All I want is to make sure they know not to pick fights with you.” 

  
Hollow stepped closer to Grimm, caging him between the wall and themselves. They put a hand on his chest, feeling his fast-pounding heart, and with sharp claws etched their words into him. “You’d stand by me, even if things would change... for the worse?”

  
Grimm nodded. “Why is that even a question? By now you should have realized I’m not going to let you go.”

  
A relieved sigh escaped Grimm as his lover finally leant in for a long kiss. His hands began exploring the one he knew better than himself, yet never got bored with. 

  
“Not here,” Hollow wrote, casting quick glances at the haze of the alley. Grimm opened his mouth, but Hollow put a finger on it. “Not because I’m ashamed of you,” their fingers travelled down his torso with a lazy speed. “But because I want you to be only mine.” 

  
They looked up at the tower reaching for the starless sky, looking over their city. Its door gave a painful creak as they pushed it open. Upon entering the long-forgotten building the two were hit by a scent of fading perfume and wilting flowers. Dust coated the once shiny furniture in a thick layer, lanterns long broken, the lumaflies set free.

  
Hollow held Grimm’s hand tight while leading him up the creaking stairs, dust stirring up in their wake. Grimm’s eyes hooked on the discarded towels and pillows scattered around the abandoned place, and how some walls were covered with padding that once must have been a vivid colour. 

  
“Tell me this didn’t use to be a pleasure house.” Hollow was wrapped in secretive silence. “Love?” Grimm squeezed their hand. 

  
“So, you do know a thing or two about the city,” they wrote the words into his palm

.   
The stairs led to a spacious chamber with vast and dusty windows looking down at the city. Once a grand bed must have been the centrepiece of the room, but the place was pillaged and ransacked several times, leaving but broken chairs and a few pillows behind. 

  
“Do you like the carnival?” in Grimm’s question hid a note of curiosity and concern.

  
“I don’t think what I say matters much. But it seems everyone truly loves it. They deserve this, and I’m happy you’ve arranged all this.” They couldn’t ignore that shadow of disappointment on his face. “But if that’s what you want to know,” they put a soft hand on Grimm’s cheek, “I love it. And I love you.”

  
Yet again Grimm felt that strange, light feeling in his chest that bordered euphoria. A thousand words of love and cherishment could have escaped his lips, filling the night with whispers of sweet promises, but Grimm believed actions could tell so much more than sounds stringed together in a specific way.   
Grimm pushed Hollow against the wall with such unexpected suddenness the two nearly toppled over and fell. 

  
“I want you now, and I want you here,” he whispered into Hollow’s ear in a low voice filled to the brim with desire. 

  
“Then whatever are you waiting for?” Hollow wrote onto Grimm’s chest and started tugging his cloak off.

  
The tower of the pleasure house has been a home for nothing else but silence and cold, but those two old guests were purged from the place by the ever-young love of two perfect opposites. Fabric rustled as their cloaks were nearly torn off and got thrown on the ground. The two were caught up in a flurry of messy kisses, none of them harnessing much patience. The bright lights and flood of laughter has filled them with a sense of excitement for all the possible experiences and new things to try out, and so the void in Hollow bubbled with a high dose of adrenaline while Grimm could feel the blood boiling in his veins. Tonight would be no place for games, nor for gentle love making, that has been obvious since the moment Grimm so shamelessly pushed his hip against Hollow on the dancefloor. None could be certain of the course this boundless night would take, but the thrill of the unknown only sharpened their senses.  
Hollow felt Grimm’s touch quite literally burn at their carapace, the Troupe Master barely able to contain his raging flames within. He loved Hollow; and each time he tried harder to prove that. He put a leg between Hollow’s, on which they eagerly grinded while he left not a spot on them untouched. His touch travelled down their crown of horns, pale and regal, their face, eternally beautiful and waiting to be kissed, and their lean body, so masterfully crafted they might as well have been the artwork of a sculptor. 

  
Grimm licked at Hollow’s neck. “You are truly beautiful.”

  
“You shouldn’t forget about yourself either,” they wrote as their hand wondered down his legs. 

  
Grimm bit their neck, causing Hollow to tense up and dig their claws deep in his thigh. He let out a low growl, proudly telling Hollow how much to his liking was this carnal and honest love. Hollow didn’t mind the change of pace, for the void in them have never quite settled since the carnival began and something has begun building up in them. And Grimm’s mission was to take that weight off their shoulders. 

  
He could feel Hollow’s slit wet against his leg, their void already dripping with eagerness. Hollow’s head tipped back, the sharp ends of their horns scraping at the faded wallpaper, as another bite landed on their collarbone. Grimm’s warmth mingled with their ragged breaths as Hollow tried their best to stay composed for a couple more minutes, but Grimm knew Hollow well enough to be able to play them like an instrument. He knew biting at their collarbone would make their head tip back to reveal even more of such a vulnerable spot. He knew licking at their neck would always bring forth a ragged gasp and biting down on it would tense them up. 

  
At first Hollow was difficult to understand, always so shy and secretive, but Grimm has managed to pick away their layers of shame and insecurity and reveal the beautiful knight who lay deep within a pool of void. And the beauty of his knight was addicting.

  
“I love you like this, my darling,” he murmured with lust laced into his voice. “So eager, so wanting.” 

  
“I always want you,” they wrote on his back with trembling fingers, yet their face beamed pride and love.  
Hollow’s hand wandered downwards, feather-light touches feeling the intricacy of Grimm’s ruby carapace until they’ve reached his hips, sharp claws teasingly caressing him, making him gasp. Grimm felt the heat in him gathering, but this time the lead was in his hands. 

  
“Not so fast now, love,” he mused, fingers firmly wrapping around Hollow’s wrist. 

  
Hollow tossed at them a glance of impatient disappointment, but Grimm was quick to make up for it. For a moment their hand rested upon Grimm’s blushed cheeks, then two of their fingers slipped past his glinting fangs and into his mouth. His tongue pushed warm against their long fingers and Grimm cracked a smile upon seeing their eyes widen in such innocent surprise. Hollow was too easy to surprise. 

  
The colourful charade of lights seeped through the dusty glass, sending the two to a realm different from anything they’ve experienced before. Grimm’s hands rested firm on Hollow’s chest, gently keeping them pinned against the wall to be a reminder that this dance was led by the Troupe Master. So far Hollow liked to be the one carried and guided by confident touches, and so they cherished every moment they could, even despite wishing the anticipation would be over and Grimm would just gift them with that much-craved high. 

  
Grimm’s claws dragged down on their inky black body, feeling as Hollow’s back arched into an elegant curve, pressing into the touch as much as they could. With dizzying slowness, but at last Grimm’s practised fingers reached their slit. Grimm sent Hollow a roguish smile, his eyes sparkling in that most dangerous blood red shade, fingers but teasing with sloppy touches while his mouth was still busy, promising what more he could do, given Hollow was being patient. 

  
Upon seeing that special smile of Grimm’s Hollow knew the night would be spent with Grimm experimenting just how thin of a thread was Hollow’s patience. Shivers ran through their shell, the void in them thrashing, and an odd feeling was creeping up their throat; a tingling sense that wanted to be let out.  
A lustful sigh escaped them as their fingers suddenly pulled back from Grimm’s much experienced mouth, which he regarded with a low hiss. 

  
Hollow wrote onto his chest, “You can take your time, but I won’t.” 

  
A surprised gasp slipped past Grimm’s lips as they felt Hollow’s wet fingers teasingly wrap around his cock, and he could swear he noticed them smirk. Grimm chuckled to himself like someone who’s made a discovery. Hollow was always meant to be but a vessel, to be at the mercy and control of others, and so often it seemed like they were worthy to be called the perfect vessel, but over the weeks and months Grimm spent lingering around them, carefully unwrapping them, he knew the others couldn’t be more wrong. Hollow was sharp and defiant. They have brought about change and though always appeared like someone else was leading the dance the second they felt discontent they took the reins. Just like now. Grimm smiled; they were confident at last. And they didn’t harness a confidence which rooted in anger or frustration, but duty and pride. And Grimm believed that was the greatest kind of confidence, even when targeted at him. 

  
He watched that ever so enchanting face of Hollow even as their long fingers began stroking with long and firm movements. Their lean and strong body, divinely pale face and honest eyes had spellbound him. But Hollow felt that their voidheart was bound just as well by those half-lidded glances of secrets, scarlet body always alive with energy, and eyes burning with a barely tamed fire. They have enchanted the other, bindings of shadow and fire mingling in the heated air. 

  
Sharp gasps have filled the abandoned tower as the pace quickened, wanting to mirror the buzz and fast music that overflowed the city. Two of Grimm’s fingers slipped into Hollow’s slit and they tensed up for a fleeting second, giving a sudden squeeze to his cock. 

  
Much to Hollow’s distress Grimm’s fingers remained still, and they didn’t need much time to realize what he was waiting for with such a loving look. Pleas and begging etched into him, whimpers and a soft look; something to melt his heart.

  
Hollow denied that from him. They rocked themselves on his fingers, moving up then slamming down in a steady pace. Grimm’s momentary surprise left his mouth open, but the sight of Hollow so eagerly pleasuring themselves only fed his flames of desire.

  
“Keep doing that, my love,” his warm voice burned away at the cold fabric of the night. “I like you like this.”

  
Hollow’s only answer was a long stroke on his cock, deriving from him a ragged breath. Their hazy gaze jumped about the place, chest heaving, a thin sheen of sweat blissfully cooling in the night. Their senses may have been overwhelmed in this lovely chaos of brilliant lights and red glints, scents of sweat, rain and dust, sounds of faint music and Grimm’s heavy panting so close to their ear, but they wanted more. They wanted more whispered ‘I love you’-s coming from their lover, and they wanted to feel more of his heated touches on every inch of their shell, and above all, they wanted his fingers to reach further inside them.   
But Grimm refrained himself from moving on, looking at Hollow with a domineering grin, cruelly keeping them far from the bliss they deserved. In the same pace as Hollow slammed down on his fingers again and again, they gave a squeeze and stroke to Grimm’s cock. His eyes ever so slightly widened and Hollow knew he too wished for the same thing as them. 

  
Hollow’s lean body twisted in the most beautiful and interesting ways as they struggled to find the best position, body glistening in the city’s lights as if covered with a shiny layer of ink. Grimm’s eyes lit up with a ravening shine as he watched Hollow reveal every crevice of their masterfully shaped body, and it wasn’t long before his one hand set out to discover every spot on their fine shell. Hollow shuddered when they felt Grimm’s tongue press against their neck. He peppered them with kisses and gentle licks which soon morphed into loving bites and sucking.

  
Hollow’s rhythm quickened even more as they approached that long-craved high, and guessing by Grimm’s low grunts, he struggled to hold back. 

  
Hollow threw back their head and shut their eyes, still caught up in that torturous phase when only the promise of that relief could be felt within, but nothing more beyond that.

  
Grimm felts as if flames were burning hot around him, and a strange fizzy feel pooled up in his abdomen. That was the moment his patience snapped, instincts taking over the control. 

  
“I want you to be mine properly,” he said with a hand resting firm on their neck and pushed Hollow up against the window, taking them from behind. 

  
A long breath tore up from Hollow as they felt Grimm’s cock slowly slip inside them. Hollow’s long fingers pleasured Grimm with such love and expertise that he became a trembling mess wanting nothing else but to truly feel Hollow, and to reach that high he chased so often, and which always led him right into their arm. He pulled Hollow close to him, planting kisses along their back and shoulders while pulling out only to slam back. Hollow heard the buzz of their own excited void pounding in their ears, and the void in them convulsed around Grimm’s member. 

  
“Don’t stop,” Grimm could barely make out the writing on his palm. “We’re so perfect like this, don’t you think?”

  
They felt Grimm’s chuckle warm on their carapace. “Perfect indeed, my love.” 

  
Grimm felt the oncoming bliss and with one last thrust finally entered that feel of ecstasy, a moan tearing up from his lungs while his whole body felt light. He embraced Hollow with an overflowing sense of love as he came inside them. But he didn’t pull out, otherwise Hollow might have killed him, his eager lover still being left to balance on that fine edge.

  
“Look outside,” ha panted, “look what’s about to happen.” 

  
It was a struggle for Hollow to keep their eyes open and focused when Grimm was pounding them with such force, his cum trickling down their legs, making everything even more slippery. But he has asked them with an edge of such hope and impatience they tried their best. They were close, their vision hazy their legs trembling and it was thanks to Grimm they were still standing. Their void within has gone crazy, and they were afraid their minds would soon follow as Grimm’s pace slowed and he intentionally missed the spot which he knew would send Hollow into a burst of bliss. Grimm was being cruel, keeping them at the edge, promising to push them over, but bringing them back at the last moment. 

  
“Wait, my love,” even Grimm’s shameless and dominant tone brought them closer to the bliss just out of their reach. 

  
Hollow could barely make it out, but something was happening down there, bugs gathering, torches in some’s hands. Grimm’s cock reached deep within them, hitting spots that sent tingles through their every drip of void, but the pace still wasn’t fast enough, and Hollow was afraid their legs could give up any moment. The torches set fire onto thin strands, and Grimm’s pace quickened. By some miracle Hollow managed to keep their gaze focused on the night sky, and when Grimm has finally pushed them over the edge their eyes widened in a rare kind of awe and pleasure as the night was lit up by bursts of glittering colours. Fireworks, something Grimm had only told tales about. Hollow trembled, their void roaring in relief, and came just when Grimm’s cock pulled out, leaving none to help them enjoy their high to the fullest. Their chest heaved as they clawed at the wallpaper, body tensing up and going limp seconds later.

  
Grimm’s voice was dulled by the loud bursts of fireworks. “Oh, you wanted me to keep on going?” 

  
Hollow leant against the wall, gaze more or less fixed on the parade of colours. After long breaths to regain control of their body Hollow tossed a look of disappointment and blame at Grimm. “You’ve ruined it,” they signed as if they’ve been betrayed. “Damn you, Grimm.” 

  
Grimm pitied them, of course he did, but Hollow was so adorable when unsatisfied. Besides, he was too curious to find out how they handled when he ruined them. 

  
“I’m sorry, my love” he pressed a caring kiss on their snout. “I’ll make up for it.” 

  
Hollow cupped his cheek, forcing his gaze to look at them. “Yes, you will.” Grimm’s fingers were already teasing at their thighs yet again, when Hollow grabbed his hand. “But someplace else.” They gazed out the window and into the wondrous night, and he noticed a strange glint in their eyes. “Someplace you’ll be most thankful to have me.” 

  
He tried to peek behind their mask of mystery and unsatisfied love, but Hollow embraced him and the dusty chamber was no more. Grimm shuddered at the sudden gust of cold that hit him mercilessly, and knew they have left the lanterns and braziers behind. He heard the ceaseless melody of rain and the cheer of the festival, this time dulled by thick walls and glass. His eyes opened, still adjusting to the dimness which found home in the palace. Faint puffs of glowing spells lingered around the two, enhancing Hollow’s beauty, leftovers from their spell of teleport. He gazed deep into Hollow’s pitch eyes, foreheads touching, impatient breaths mingling in the chilly air. It was only after a long and loving kiss that his gaze shifted past his lover. A surprised but grateful smile stretched across his features when he saw just exactly where Hollow has taken him. Hollow was sitting on that grand throne of theirs with Grimm in their lap, just the two is them alone in the spacious hall, right in the middle of the beating heart of Hallownest. The throne room has always been a place where Hollow never let Grimm give them more than a few kisses, no matter how persistently he tried, how many sweet words he has whispered. Hollow regarded the place too formal and not intended by any means for passionate love to echo among its walls. But that didn’t matter anymore. They wanted to surprise him and prove that his love was more important than anything else.

  
Grimm’s heart yet again pounded fast, pumping adrenaline through their veins, and once again his eyes were lit up by the purest form of want. Hollow didn’t know, but the throne seemed to strengthen their aura of authority and prestige that fit them so perfectly. The fact that Grimm shared such a burning love with the king of Hallownest never failed to fill him with a sense of pride and excitement, but now the realisation that he might just get to fuck them on their throne hit him hard in the chest, and he knew he could only stay for mere seconds so motionlessly adoring his lover. 

  
“I thought you didn’t like here,” Grimm noted, hands caressing Hollow’s cheeks. 

  
“But I know you love it here. You always wanted to have me here.” They leant close to his face; the words carved onto his chest. “So, pleasure me, Troupe Master Grimm, as you’ve promised.”

  
Grimm felt something awaken in him, and no more words had to be said. Without any warning three of his fingers reached deep in Hollow, noting with a satisfied hum how the void flowed and convulsed around his fingers. He wasn’t so cruel as to tease Hollow for a second time; no, this time he’d deliver them pure, unadulterated ecstasy. He set a pace that made Hollow threw their head back and shut their eyes. As Hollow’s claws raked at his neck and chest he felt as if in their wake burned a fire which filled him with love and desire. The throne room that was meant to be a place of conferences and official matters was now filled with shameless sounds as Grimm’s fingers delivered pleasure to Hollow’s dripping slit.

  
Hollow needed the proper kind of bliss which Grimm had so meanly denied from them. At first, they were surprised for him to do such a thing, but the Troupe Master has always been of the more curious and experimenting kind. They were left ruined, odd feelings that bordered euphoria just as much as pain slithering through their body, and they were left craving more of him and what only he could give them.   
Grimm’s fingers curled inside them, and it didn’t take much time for that fizzing feeling in their abdomen to emerge yet again. But Hollow wanted more from Grimm. They put a hand on his head, pulling him close for a long and harsh kiss. 

  
“Make better use of that mouth of yours,” they signed with an impish glint in their eyes.

  
“If you ask nicely,” Grimm answered without slowing his pace.

  
Hollow’s grip tightened around his neck, their head tilted, dominant, their power unquestionable. “Are you disobeying your king?” 

  
Grimm was caught surprised in a flurry of feelings, mischief and love battling in him. But Hollow deserved to have the lead now. “Certainly not, your Majesty,” his voice laced with excitement. 

  
Grimm got down on his knees, still not quite believing where all this was happening. He sent a loving glance to Hollow, then dived deep into the realm of pleasures. He started slow, merely tasting with gentle licks and planting kisses all along Hollow’s thighs who was already squirming with impatience. The void was fizzing on their tongue, leaving on it a taste that could never be defined, yet was always welcomed. Hollow’s hand got a hold on Grimm’s horns, a subtle reminder for why he was there. They felt it creeping from their groin up their throat, that strange feeling, that truly unique kind of pleasure and delight; and by the stars, they loved every moment of it. Grimm’s tongue reached far inside them, perfectly knowing which spots to press while their fingers caressed their shell from the inside. His other hand embraced them erratically, as if trying to simultaneously touch them everywhere. Hollow knew that the relief their lover would bring would be of the purest kind, this time not to let out their pent up anger or bottled up emotions, but to enjoy, as Grimm said, everything to its fullest. They were surprised to notice they had no problems to let go off, no looming worries to darken the day. This time it was them and Grimm and their love and everything else vapoured away into an invisible mist. 

  
Their chest felt like an explision ready to happen, the void banging against their shell, wanting to be let out. “Love me, Grimm,” that was all their jittery fingers could sign.

  
He looked up at his love for a moment, catching a breath. “I love you.” His eyes burned with desire.  
Grimm’s warm tongue moved with fluid expertise inside their dripping slit, licking and sucking just at the right moments as he guided Hollow closer to their much-craved paradise. Hollow’s back arched in an elegant curve, beautiful on their throne and they pushed Grimm’s face into their slit. They were nearly there, in their ears the sound of grumbling void mixed with exploding fireworks. One last lick reaching their sweet spot and Grimm pushed them over the edge, this time properly. The oncoming waves of ecstasy made Hollow feel as if they were falling, their head light, body drowning in bliss. Their back arched, chest heaving and thirsty for air, sweat glistening on their forehead. Grimm helped them stretch out the moment, tongue helping them ride out their afterglow while his eyes rested on the impossible miracle that was his. 

  
Grimm only came to a halt once Hollow’s body went limp. He sat back into their lap, fingers idly tracing shapes on their carapace. His fire was tamed and Hollow’s cool touch felt soothing in the night. Hollow wiped off some void from the corner of his mouth, eyes overflowing with not just love but happiness too.

  
“I always knew staying by your side would be the best decision I ever made,” Grimm whispered with seeping honesty. 

  
“Is that so?”

  
He kissed their snout, smiling . “Believe me.” 

  
They embraced the other, the two of them forever bound by something stronger than the strongest of spells. Grimm’s small figure fit perfectly into their lap. Hollow leant back on their throne and Grimm rested his head on their chest, listening to the calming rumble of their sea of void with closed eyes. 

  
Hollow’s gaze wandered somewhere out there. “I think you are right.” 

  
Grimm raised a brow, their voice slightly drowsy. “What’s on your mind, darling?”

  
“I...” they sighed and averted their gaze, not quite believing what they were about to sign. “There are a lot of things out there, right?” Grimm nodded. “I think... I think I’d like to see them.” 

  
Grimm’s eyes popped open, newly found energy making his heart beat fast. “You’re right, it would be a shame to miss out on such a merry festival.” He smiled, truly honest and happy. He knew that all those gloomy days in the rain spent in their embrace would be in no vain, that once his sweet whispers would bear even sweeter fruits, and Hollow would follow him into lands full of wonder, leaving the protective walls of the palace behind. 

  
He kissed Hollow one last time before standing up, offering them a hand. Hollow watched his eyes which shone in the dimness like a pair of bloody rubies, but was hesitant to take his hand. This was unusual, the usual practice being retreating to bed and listening to the tapping of rain until at last they drifted off into a shallow dream. But now, it seemed as if the night barely has started and they found it tempting them with all it had to offer. Grimm blinked impatient, calling them to join him already. Of course, Hollow sighed, Grimm would be by their side, always and forever. They would no longer be left alone and forgotten.  
They reached for his hand and their fingers intertwined. 

  
“But our cloaks,” Hollow wrote upon realising their cloaks were left discarded on the dusty floor of the pleasure house. 

  
Grimm sent them a wink, “I think you are the most beautiful like this.” He enjoyed the unimpressed look Hollow has sent them. “But of course, your Majesty deserves something... more eye-catching, I believe. My love, tell me, what do you think about costumes? A cloak of velvet with a vivid cape, a mask to melt into the enjoyment of the night?” Grimm smiled, a dozen ideas already buzzing in his head.

  
Hollow was hesitant to sign, knowing too well that tonight Grimm had little to no bounds. “I’m not sure-”

  
But Grimm was already dragging them out the throne room, hand in hand, and towards the wardrobe, excitement and joy and love sparkling around the two, his chuckles echoing around the hallways. “We are going to get matching outfits.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hereby claim that this romance has come to an end. I hope I've done justice to this ship.
> 
> Feedback is important to me and is highly appriciated.
> 
> I really loved writing this story of mine, and I really hope you've enjoyed reading it too! <3 <3 <3

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't let my favourite ship exist without a story of mine. I just think these two could have a truly good chemistry.  
> Fun fact: the working title for this story was Forgive Me For I Have Sinned - Again  
> Comments and feedback (whether that be positive or negative) is appriciated more than anything. Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I loved writing it.


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